Judging
Success in Mega
Transport
THE OMEGA
CENTRE
Host organisation:
The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, UK
Links:
The Centre’s website
By comparing the development of 35 large transportation
systems around the world, the OMEGA Centre has collected
and is examining information concerning what is required for
these projects to succeed in the 21st Century.
The purpose of the comparative study is to learn from previous MUTP and make the knowledge gained available for future projects. “It is a little surprising that similar studies have not been carried out earlier, especially because there are more and more MUTP, and they are increasingly expensive and complex. We need to collect both general and context-specific experience that can be useful for future projects,” says Dimitriou. It is about both understanding the complexities of every project and understanding the complexity of the interplay with the rest of society. The structure of political institutions and how decision making takes place significantly influence a project’s design and its results. “That means that some experience is applicable to other projects under certain specific conditions. The structure of political institutions and the resources one has at one’s disposal create different possibilities and different results,” says Harry Dimitriou.
Useful information
The Centre has elected to focus on large transportation projects in urban areas, or areas connecting cities and/or metropolitan regions in the developed world. The Centre collaborates with 11 academic partners in as many countries. Each academic Partner collaborates in turn with several local stakeholders. The dialog between academics and the local stakeholders is important for achieving relevant results.
One question being studied at the Centre is to what extent visions of sustainable development are planned into projects and what the frictions are between the local and international needs for such projects. “We are aware that 20th Century criteria were dominated by economic growth aspirations, but given the current grave concerns about climate change, emissions, energy shortages, credit crunches, equity imbalances etc., it is much more difficult to discern what a ‘successful’ project is today. Making sense of the changing priorities between these concerns and their relationship to economic growth aspirations requires an understanding of complexity and dynamic complex systems that goes far beyond traditional appraisal methodologies” Dimitriou says.
Web-based database
In the past, clear divisions existed be tween the perceptions and interests of politicians, entrepreneurs, corporate stakeholders and academics about the expectations of MUTP, across which very often little was shared. The Centre, as a result, has an explicit goal to disseminate the knowledge it acquires to all parties interested in MUTP developments. “The purpose of the project is to acquire knowledge that is useful for policy makers and planners in the public and private sectors, as well as among infrastructure investors, politicians and others interested in MUTP decision making. It is not about creating an exclusive international knowledge network for academics,” says Harry Dimitriou. One of the major ways the Center will disseminate knowledge is by creating a web-based database with mounting information about the various case study projects. It is to be supported by in-depth related specialist reports produced by the Partners over the duration of the research program.
Story telling
Each case study database will be complimented by a story-line and related narratives. These will clarify: how decisions were made in the planning and appraisal of the MUTP; what analyses were used to support different decisions that led to their implementation; why the costs of the various measures/phases were estimated to be at the level they were; and why they finally cost what they did. “The narratives will offer insights that cannot be discerned from the technical documentation or statistics. They promise to give us a totally new appreciation of how many priorities were set and changed over time. We consider this aspect of the study one of the most innovative of our research.”
Each of the reported narratives and insights is based on interviews conducted with key MUTP stakeholders. “The stories that emanate from these sources illustrate and reinforce the complexities of both the MUTP themselves and the decisions that contributed to their conception, planning and construction. Every country and project has its own background and stakeholders, with their own stories of why projects have been successful or not. By systematically comparing the different MUTP and the contexts in which they were planned and implemented, we expect to be able to draw significant conclusions about why certain countries have been good at implementing MUTP and others have not, and the important role of effective planning and decision making in determining success or failure,” says Dimitriou.
