Mega-Projects

Since the demise of urban renewal in the early 1970s, the politics of large-scale public investment in urban areas has received little scholarly attention. This book examines the forces that gave rise to the great wave of urban mega-projects in the 1950s and 1960s, the sharp decline in such projects around 1970, and the new generation of large developments in recent decades. While focusing principally on transportation mega-projects such as Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel project (the “Big Dig”), Denver International Airport, and the Los Angeles subway, the authors consider as well the scores of new stadiums, arenas, and convention centers built (mainly at public expense). They analyze their findings in relation to leading theories of urban and American politics, and appraise the most important practical consequences of policy shifts in this field over the past half-century. In a concluding chapter, they examine post–September 11 developments and the potential effects of both new fiscal pressures and security concerns on the future of urban mega-projects.