In "Mega-Projects", Altshuler and Luberoff examine the forces that gave rise to a great wave of urban mega-projects in the US in the 1950s and 1960s, that broke this wave in the years around 1970 and that have shaped a new generation of such projects in the decades since. While focusing principally on transportation mega-projects such as Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project (the "Big Dig"), the Denver International Airport and the Los Angeles subway, they consider as well the scores of new stadiums, arenas and convention centres built (mainly at public expense) in recent years. "Mega-Projects" includes narratives of both national policy-making and local mobilization to bring about highway, airport, rail-transit and downtown revitalization projects, particularly since the 1970s. The specific projects chronicled are drawn from numerous regions including Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Portland and Seattle. It also includes broad analyses, seeking to place the authors' findings in relation to leading theories of urban and American politics.
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". . .Mega-Projects is a major contribution to urban development policy. . ." -- Steven P. Erie, Perspectives on Politics
"....necessary reading for students and professionals interested in creating vital urban environments of the future." -- Arthur C. Nelson, The Journal of Planning Education and Research
"...insightfully blends urban political theory with detailed case studies to arrive at a new understanding of large public works projects...." -- Martin Wachs, University of California, Berkeley
"A fascinating, theoretically rich study of the politics of public investment in urban America...." -- Jameson W. Doig, Princeton University
"An important new book." -- Alan Ehrenhalt, Governing
"[Mega-Projects] is a superb achievement sure to have a lasting impact on urban scholars and policymakers alike." -- Lynne Sagalyn, Columbia Business School
"....necessary reading for students and professionals interested in creating vital urban environments of the future." -- Arthur C. Nelson, The Journal of Planning Education and Research
"...insightfully blends urban political theory with detailed case studies to arrive at a new understanding of large public works projects...." -- Martin Wachs, University of California, Berkeley
"A fascinating, theoretically rich study of the politics of public investment in urban America...." -- Jameson W. Doig, Princeton University
"An important new book." -- Alan Ehrenhalt, Governing
"[Mega-Projects] is a superb achievement sure to have a lasting impact on urban scholars and policymakers alike." -- Lynne Sagalyn, Columbia Business School
About the Author
Alan Altshuler is the Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and its Graduate School of Design. He is also director of the Kennedy School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government.
David E. Luberoff is the Taubman Center’s associate director and an adjunct lecturer at the Graduate School of Design.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In-depth analysis of urban rojects and their prospects for the future,
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This review is from: Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment (Paperback)
Altschuler and Luberoff provide an in-depth analysis of urban mega-projects focusing on three major categories: highways, airports, and rail transit. They preface their treatment a first-rate discussion and analysis of the theoretical framework and evolving political context in which urban mega-projects are undertaken. In this sense, the book is invaluable for those persons in the project management sector who need to be able to deal with the politics of their own projects (despite the ongoing belief among students that politics are irrelevant to project success). The real driver of these projects is the demand for economic growth and prosperity by important political constituencies, particularly the business communities of these various cities, but also other groups (including neighborhoods and other local institutions) that are interested in promoting prosperity as well. The discussion here is balanced, thoughtful, informed and astute.
The authors detail the era of carte-blanche and laissez-faire mega projects which lasted into the late 1960s, only to be confronted with resistance to groups (such as neighborhoods and environmentalists) that had heretofore been shut own, silenced, or overlooked. They treat the seventies, eighties and nineties as a time of retrenchment, and see the present era as one in which mega-projects will continue to drive forward in specific areas, but in which they will also be far more limited in scope than in the preceding years. They note the constraining force of the "do no harm" doctrine, and detail how this doctrine--promulgated as a consequence of the excesses of the mega-projects of the sixties, when neighborhood and environmental impacts were hardly ever considered (e.g., the ill-fated Jones Falls Expressway in Baltimore, which the book does not mention)--is being implemented in projects such as the Federal government's reconstruction and expansion of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on Washington DC's southern edge. The book ends with an analysis of the long-term impact of the legal retrenchment against mega-projects that occurred during the sixties, and its authors, while sympathetic with the democratic political tendencies generated by the opposition to these projecs, concludes that legitimate objections can still stop projects. Simple use of delaying tactics will not work, and projects will advance against such opposition, though far more slowly and with greatly increased costs. Their discussion of regime politics is especially important, and provides and essential caveat for any serious professional or activist seeking to halt a politically advanced, though publicly deleterious project.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
good read, very detailed,
By IMaRunner2 "love to read and run" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment (Paperback)
I had to read this book for grad school. If you need a lead on case studies related to city planning, this is the book for you.
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Viewed internationally, American cities are unique-extra-ordinarily self-reliant in relation to higher level governments, but also extraordinarily dependent on private sector investment decisions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
air traffic control improvements, artery depression, new harbor tunnel, transit coalition, interstate funding, highway coalition, transit spending, large hub airports, transit advocates, rail advocates, federal highway aid, federal highway officials, enplaned passengers, transit aid, transit grants, passenger facility charges, referendum requirements, redistributive expenditures, interstate program, airport investment, new rail systems, highway spending, transit share, highway interests, expressway construction Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Los Angeles, United States, San Francisco, Adams County, New Jersey, San Diego, Federal Aviation Administration, Interstate Highway Program, Fort Worth, Federal Highway Administration, Charles River, Department of Transportation, East Boston, Century Freeway, Bureau of the Census, Federal Transit Administration, General Accounting Office, Red Line, Logan Airport, New Haven, President Reagan, American Public Transit Association, Annual Report, Clarence Stone New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Viewed internationally, American cities are unique-extra-ordinarily self-reliant in relation to higher level governments, but also extraordinarily dependent on private sector investment decisions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
air traffic control improvements, artery depression, new harbor tunnel, transit coalition, interstate funding, highway coalition, transit spending, large hub airports, transit advocates, rail advocates, federal highway aid, federal highway officials, enplaned passengers, transit aid, transit grants, passenger facility charges, referendum requirements, redistributive expenditures, interstate program, airport investment, new rail systems, highway spending, transit share, highway interests, expressway construction Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Los Angeles, United States, San Francisco, Adams County, New Jersey, San Diego, Federal Aviation Administration, Interstate Highway Program, Fort Worth, Federal Highway Administration, Charles River, Department of Transportation, East Boston, Century Freeway, Bureau of the Census, Federal Transit Administration, General Accounting Office, Red Line, Logan Airport, New Haven, President Reagan, American Public Transit Association, Annual Report, Clarence Stone New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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2
books
cite this book:
- City Limits by Paul E. Peterson on 5 pages
- Local Government (Aspects of Britain) by Central Office of Information on 4 pages
- Urban Renewal by James Q. Wilson in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) by Sven Steinmo in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Price of Federalism by Paul E. Peterson on page 58, page 60, and page 260
See all 100 books this book cites
- Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956 by Jason Scott Smith on page 253, and page 265
- Taking the High Road: A Metropolitan Agenda for Transportation Reform by Bruce Katz on page 283
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