Contesting Megaprojects

Megaprojects are not merely transformative, but rather inherently disruptive. They are incompatible with any approach to urban sustainability that prioritizes the well-being of urbanites and the boundaries of the Earth system. The reason for this state of affairs is not cost overruns and poor megaproject management, but the disruptive impacts that megaprojects have on urban areas. This book emphasizes the megaproject impacts imperative: the importance of identifying impacts as a prerequisite for critically assessing whether megaprojects should be built. Drawing on 18 megaprojects in 16 cities around the world (inter alia, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Boston, New York and Shanghai), Contesting Megaprojects illustrates the trajectories and transitions in urban-regional political economies over the past fifty years. Megaprojects cause massive disruptions everywhere, and the book offers a typology of megaproject impacts: socioeconomic, environmental, spatial, political and geopolitical, financial, cultural and systemic. As a response to this disruptive complexity (the emerging complex web of interrelated megaproject impacts), the book develops the concept of complex sustainability, a transdisciplinary approach to urban sustainability, through socioeconomic sustainability and deep sustainability. Contesting Megaprojects may be the most essential read since Altshuler and Luberoff’s 2003 book detailing the politics behind Boston’s Big Dig project. Professor John Landis, University of Pennsylvania In this important book, del Cerro shows how “green capitalism” is primarily symbolic with limited benefits to the larger population that continues to suffer from environmental degradation and widening inequality. Professor Susan Fainstein, Harvard University This must-read book has sealed Gerardo del Cerro’s reputation as a leading scholar of megaprojects. Professor Diane Davis, Harvard University Contesting Megaprojects is another impressive and thoughtful contribution from one of the most knowledgeable critics of urban megaprojects. Professor Robert Beauregard, Columbia University Gerardo del Cerro identifies cities as the “heat islands” that are mostly responsible for our sustainability crisis, and indicts megaprojects as the main culprits. This book is a must read. Professor Mauro Guillén, University of Pennsylvania This book systematically dismantles the convenient fiction that megaprojects are advancing sustainable development as well as economic growth. A must read. Professor Tim Bunnell, National University of Singapore Megaprojects are not merely transformative, but rather, they are inherently disruptive. They are incompatible with any approach to urban sustainability that prioritizes the well-being of urbanites and the boundaries of the Earth system. In fact, megaprojects undermine efforts to tackle the global impacts associated with both the destructive creation of capitalism and the new climate regime. The reason for this state of affairs is not cost overruns and poor megaproject management, but the disruptive impacts that megaprojects have on urban areas. This book emphasizes the impacts imperative in megaproject planning: the importance of identifying disruptive impacts as a prerequisite for critically assessing whether megaprojects should be built. Drawing on 18 megaprojects in 16 cities around the world (inter alia, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Boston, New York and Shanghai), Contesting Megaprojects illustrates urban-regional trajectories over the past fifty years. These trajectories show the coexistence of property development, culture, and iconic architecture, together with a more recent interest in science and technology, innovation, and sustainability as strategies to foster urban competitiveness. Megaprojects cause massive disruptions everywhere, and the book offers a typology of megaproject impacts: socioeconomic, environmental, spatial, political and geopolitical, financial, cultural and systemic. As a response to this emerging complex web of interrelated megaproject impacts (disruptive complexity), the book develops the concept of complex sustainability, a transdisciplinary approach to urban sustainability, through socioeconomic sustainability and deep sustainability. The critical outlook of this book contributes to fundamental debates around capitalist development: trickle-down urbanism, spectacularization, high-tech innovation and AI, planetary boundaries, global risks, resilience, the right to the city, geopolitics, democracy, prosperity, and power. Contesting Megaprojects can help urban scholars and analysts, practitioners, policymakers, and residents of cities better understand the complex impacts of urban megaprojects, their magnitude and consequences, and identify pathways of analysis and action toward a more sustainable and just future.