Megaprojects and Risk
Subtitle: An Anatomy of Ambition
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: March 10, 2003
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 218
ISBN-13: 9780521009461
Subjects: Economics; Environmental science; Regional & Area Planning; Social issues; Social, group or collective psychology; Sociology; Project Management; Social Science; Politics / Current Events; Sociology - General; Government & Business; Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.; Public Policy - Regional Planning; Social Science / Sociology / General; Economics - General; Risk management
First sentence: Wherever we go in the world, we are confronted with a new political and physical animal: the multibillion-dollar mega infrastructure project.
Description: "Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is an account of how the promoters of multibillion-dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be essential reading in its field for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians, journalists and interested citizens."--Jacket.