Storylines, Leadership and Risk, Some Findings from Australian Case Studies of Urban Transport Megaprojects

Abstract

This article is about how storylines are interwoven with mega transport project success. It examines the animating stories that inspire support for a project, the leadership that carries forward and expresses these stories and in turn becomes defined by them, and one particular impact this has on the management of risk. In developing this article we have used data collected on three Australian mega urban transport projects (MUTPs) for OMEGA Project 2, an international project on MUTPs. Framing the discussion also are some wider questions of political ethics which the expenditure of large amounts of public funds entails. In this article we first discuss our interpretive theoretical framework. We adduce evidence on the three elements (storylines, leadership and risk) before reaching our conclusion that whether or not a project is subsequently judged a ‘success’ depends on the combination of a persuasive storyline, strong leadership and the effective management of risk. Finally, we turn to the wider normative ambitions of the OMEGA project and question whether these can be achieved in an Australian context in which infrastructure planning is so highly politicised.

本文探索如何利用故事界定大型交通工程，以及判断工程是否成功。作者讨论了 主要人物如何使用叙事表达城市大型交通工程（MUTPs）的需求，并以此推进 工程进展。我们认为所谓 “成功” 取决于这些主要人物叙事的一致性，以及他们 保持这种一致性的能力。文章借鉴了Hajer（1995）的观念，即以故事作为达成 共识的手段，将复杂问题化解为各方都能接受的解决方案。随后分析了故事与（海 德格尔和福柯所谓）个体的关系，及其对合理规划的影响。

文章介绍了OMEGA 项目2 中三项澳大利亚个案研究的结果。OMEGA 项目 2 是一个研究十国MUTP 决策的项目，其项目负责人是Harry Dimitrion。这个项 目将MUTPs 界定为1990 年后完工、耗资5 亿美元以上的道路、铁路、桥梁和 隧道工程。该项目中的个案研究包括法国米约大桥和伦敦银禧地铁线。对澳大利 亚个案的初步分析显示，MUTPs 的 “治理的艺术” （福柯语）是各种合理性、 技术和知识的混合，这些方面共同为工程提供了行动的本体论（或世界观），以 及判断恰当行动的标准（Sturup, 2010）。这种本体论与本文探讨的生机勃勃的 故事理念有着关联。本文也探讨了MUTPs 的 “成功” 标准，以及决策过程如何 促进或消解对于 “成功” 的理解。

Keywords::

• Storylines
• mega urban transport projects
• risk management
• leadership
• Heidegger
• Hajer

Notes

^1. Port Phillip Bay.

^2. This was the first set of tolls which applied to residents of the eastern suburbs on their main routes to the northern suburbs.

^3. The Narrows Crossing is the bridge crossing the Swan River which carries the Kwinana Freeway. It is the point at which the Swan River is at its narrowest, nearest the western side of the CBD.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a GAMUT (University of Melbourne) scholarship for Dr Sturup's PhD which was funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations via the OMEGA Centre at University College London.