What if large infrastructure project processes adopted a coevolutionary character? Discussing the merits and consequences for the OOSTERWEEL link project, ANTWERP

Abstract

In the quest for a more sustainable mobility, present mobility planning approaches do not prove effective. In particular in the case of large infrastructure projects (LIPs) this becomes manifest; realising LIPs has become tremendously difficult these days, resulting in many stranded projects. Previous LIP-research has shown that complexity is behind these struggles, in all its facets. Although decision makers often still focus merely on financial, technical and legal issues of complexity (Flyvbjerg, 2007; Priemus, 2007), it becomes increasingly clear that the influence of social and organizational complexity is heavily underestimated with respect to planning processes and procedures, see Figure 1 (Hertogh & Westerveld, 2010).