EVALUATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY: LESSONS FROM DETROIT'S CENTRAL INDUSTRIAL PARK PROJECT

Success in implementing the Central Industrial Park project required clearing a 500-acre site for a new General Motors assembly plant, at a public sector cost of more than $200 million, in less than two years, to meet a deadline set by the corporation; clearance involved relocation of 3.500 people and more than 100 businesses, and demolition of 1,500 structures. Despite the complexity of the project and the need for approvals from multiple decision makers at the local, state, and national level, timely implementation was possible because of consensus on the project and i t s importance, formulation of special organizational structures and procedures, the actions and influence of the mayor and his development director as I'fixers, and redefinition and expansion of the statutory authority of officials responsible for project implementation. The crisis atmosphere in which project decisions were made, a consequence of corporate deadlines and the city's desperate economic situation, was essential to the effective combination of these forces. The price for success was steep, however, including higher acquisition and relocation costs, reduction of property tax revenues from the project to minimal levels for 30 years, and transfer of control over the formation and implementation of economic development policy to the private sector.     

Finding energy in strategic project management: an essay in honour of Dean Fang

A development project is an intervention that is designed to makes things better in a particular context or situation. It is always a problem to know what to do for the best. The Logical Framework, evaluated in this journal last year (Gasper, 2000 ), is a project‐planning and management technique widely applied by multilateral as well as bilateral donor agencies in international development work. It was designed to prevent project managers from simply offering to do what they had always done before and instead to think strategically about cause and effect in context. The present article respects this logical approach but focuses attention upon context. Context is considered in the right‐hand column of a Log Frame. The article seeks inspiration in ancient Chinese concepts of energy: Yin–Yang and Wu–Wei. The search is for a form of project management that minimizes energy consumption in its own internal processes and maximizes energy release in the context that the project seeks to transform. Context has to be examined for opportunities rather than constraints. The article advocates management by being a still presence, as against management by rushing about. It borrows the old‐fashioned idea about being a catalyst and validates the now fashionable concepts of enabling and empowering. It also rediscovers at least some virtue in the Blueprint Project. The article seeks to be practical. A management development project in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa provides some illustrations and an incomplete example of what might be entailed if energy is brought into the equations of project management. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Practical assessment of project performance: the ‘potential impact’ approach*

This article sets out an approach to assessing project performance, using ‘potential impact’ of the project. Its purpose is to assist project design and evaluation. In project design, potential impacts of alternative activities on the project objective are compared, in order to select activities with the greatest impact. In project evaluation, potential and actual impacts of a project are compared. Additional benefits of the approach are that it indicates ‘value for money’ of development assistance invested in projects, and easier tracing of reasons for underachievement in projects to weaknesses in their design or management. Limitations are that it relies on informed judgement of the planners or evaluators and the categories for rating performance may unavoidably be broad. It complements the logical framework approach by providing a practical design and evaluation tool. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Learning Process and Technological Change in Wind Power: Evidence from China's CDM Wind Projects

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a project‐based carbon trade mechanism that subsidizes the users of climate‐friendly technologies and encourages technology transfer. The CDM has provided financial support for a large share of Chinese wind projects since 2002. Using pooled cross‐sectional data of 486 registered CDM wind projects in China from 2002 to 2009, we examine the determinants of technological change in wind power from a learning perspective. We use a spatial error model to estimate the effects of different channels of learning—learning through R&D in wind turbine manufacturing, learning from a firm's previous wind project experience, spillovers from industry‐wide project experience, and learning through the network interaction between project developer and turbine manufacturer—on technological change, measured as reductions in projected costs or as increased capacity factor across CDM wind projects. While we find that a project developer's previous experience matters, interactions between a wind project developer and its partner foreign turbine manufacturer lead to the largest cost reductions and capacity factor improvement. We also find that spillovers from industry‐wide experience only exist for wind farm installation. The evidence of industry‐wide spillovers and the joint learning within partnerships between project developers and foreign turbine manufacturers supports the subsidies to users of wind technologies, and policy regimes that promote international collaboration and technology transfer.     

Disbursement,decentralization and development: Lessons from the first rural health services project in Papua New Guinea

In 1983 the Department of Health in Papua New Guinea decentralized the control of health services to provincial governments. In the same year a major rural health development project commenced in six of the nineteen provinces. Conflict arose between the centralized control required by the project and the decentralized health system. This article reviews the experience of the project implementators in trying to reconcile the philosophy and reality of decentralization with the centralized project design. Lessons point to the need for closer collaboration with beneficiaries during project design, formal clarification of responsibilities of national and provincial governments in implementation, institutional strengthening as a project input and the development of mechanisms for review and change during the course of implementation.     

The project orthodoxy in development: Re-evaluating the cutting edge

This paper takes a broad critical posture towards the project as an instrument of development. It addresses the multidimensional features of what has become the project orthodoxy in development management, and some of the attending effects. It suggests that some of the virtues of the project have been offset by a number of negative consequences as it has become institutionalized in the procedures of both donor agencies and national governments in developing countries. An attempt is made to distinguish between those kinds of activities in which the project mode is most useful, and those for which its basic features and attendant trappings have great limitations. The argument concludes with a reassertion of the need for better linkages with programme management and the sources of policy.     

PROSPECT lost: when a pilot project does not look to learn

If a development project is destined to reach only a selection of its intended beneficiaries or to give them only momentary or uncertain benefits, there is a strong rationale for making it instead a project of trials from which lessons can be taken for obtaining the impact that it may not otherwise have. Because the fundamental problems and opportunities of development are very complex by their nature, interventions that seek to test practice knowledge and to learn above all else may have the greatest potential for benefit in the long term. A project that wishes to create experience from which others can learn will engage in research, so it must be conceived, led and conducted as such. This means it must be designed with knowledge of research. It must be led with an appreciation and understanding of research method. Specific research activities must be conducted that produce knowledge and promote its up‐take, so that learning is a principle project outcome. The large urban anti‐poverty project, PROSPECT, conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, illustrates this argument. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Putting ‘projectized’ development in perspective

The project approach to development assistance has been attacked for its inability to make results self-sustaining. This has been attributed to a short time horizon, an inability to pick up recurrent costs, and a tendency to either by-pass or fragment local institutions and therefore to neglect the need for local capacity building. At the same time, claims have been made that projects are politically advantageous due to quick high visibility results and they are useful instruments for experimentation, social learning and capacity building. This article examines both arguments and concludes that there is a need for radical changes in project development processes, but that there should not be a rush to abandon the project as an instrument for development.     

Next generation engagement: Setting a research agenda for community engagement in Australia's infrastructure sector

The global infrastructure sector is thriving. But community opposition to major projects is also rising. Australian examples demonstrate the policy backflips, reputational pitfalls, and financial costs of project delays and cancellations. Failures to engage communities are surprising, given the widespread adoption of community engagement (CE) principles and the increasing professionalization of CE roles. If acceptance of the need for CE in infrastructure is more widespread than ever, why are we not seeing smoother project delivery, reduced protest, and cost savings? This paradox is the driving force behind the Next Generation Engagement project. This article offers a practitioners’ perspective to introduce the project and present key findings from its 12‐month pilot study aiming to establish a transdisciplinary, industry‐led research agenda for CE in Australia's infrastructure sector. The article contributes to our understanding of CE literature and research codesign. It maps out the top five priority themes for future research to support infrastructure selection, planning and delivery. The research agenda provides guidance for policy, and practice, offering consolidated, research‐based insights for policymakers and practitioners.     

Project identification,formulation and start-up by voluntary organizations (NGOs) in Thailand's rural development

This paper presents an overview of issues in NGO project identification, formulation and start-up in the context of rural development in Thailand. It identifies the types of projects, the methods used to identify them, the initial activities in projects, the problems faced in project formulation and the influence of various factors on the process, e.g. government regulations and the NGO staff in the organization. There is limited pressure on NGOs from the government even though recent regulations may lead to more control of their activities. The importance of leadership training in the initial stages of a project is emphasized. In particular, when comparing small with larger NGOs, the technical inputs in project identification and formulation seem to be a constraint for small NGOs. Usually project identification methodology consists of following up on existing projects. In larger NGOs more bureaucratic or formalized methods are used and the ideology of the organization is more important.     

Organizational structures and the development project planning sequence

Variants of the project planning sequence or cycle are widely employed to provide the conceptual framework for investment in developing countries. However, the current models attempt to generalize activity sequences across a range of projects with differing objectives. They also tend to abstract project planning from its institutional context, and to make little allowance for the possibility that alternative approaches to organizational and managerial problems may be available. The article outlines a technique that facilitates the analysis of active-organization patterns. Commencing with the classical tripartite system, a number of standard forms are identified and described. A series of observations are then offered on the organizational choices and control procedures that are available for public sector projects. The paper concludes with some remarks on the relationship between project planning and strategies for the development of indigenous institutional capacity in developing countries.     

Self-help training for planning urban development: An innovation in on-the-job learning in Nigeria

Forced to be innovative, a short course conducted in Nigeria for urban planners produced good results, although the bulk of the direction and teaching was provided by government town planners with no previous teaching experience. A crucial factor appears to have been the course structure, which was not only based upon learning while performing a project, but also required repetition of the project tasks in two cycles. The learning was enhanced because the project was a piece of work from the current programme of the planning agency which operated the course. This effect, and the utility of the conclusions of the project work, are likely to contribute significantly to the institutional development of the planning agency. There are important implications for further training of this kind in Nigeria, implying that experienced trainers are less in need, that a group capable of conducting future short courses can be built of government planning officers, and that training should be conducted within operating institutions of government.     

Housing vouchers versus housing production: Assessing long‐term costs

Abstract

Possibly the single largest debate in the field of affordable rental housing concerns the use of tenant‐based assistance versus project‐based assistance. The accepted wisdom is that project‐based assistance costs anywhere from 50 to 100 percent more than tenant‐based assistance. This premium for project‐based housing is based on a comparison of subsidy costs at the start of a project's life rather than on a comparison of the discounted present value of the costs over the long term.

The subsidy costs of samples of Section 8 new construction projects have been compared to those of Section 8 certificates over a long period of time. The results indicate that the cost premium associated with project‐based assistance may be lower than conventionally believed, around 40 percent, and may get even lower if the cost comparison could extend to longer time periods and could control for the quality of the housing units.     

Experience of a financial reforms project in Bangladesh

This article reviews the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh aimed at reforming the public sector financial management system as part of overall public administration reforms through a technical assistance project jointly sponsored by the government and the Department for International Development, Government of the UK. It has evolved through initial setbacks into a highly successful project delivering tangible outputs over the last three years, with prospects for future extension until reforms are internalized and become self‐sustaining. Attempts have been made in this article to analyse and evaluate the underlying reasons for the problems in the first year of implementation as well as the factors that contributed to the recovery of the image of the project and its continuing successes in successive phases. The article highlights the lessons learned from the project in its bad as well as good times and suggests that this experience can be of great value to those undergoing the same type of reform experiment. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rebuilding Ukraine's hollow State: Developing a democratic public service in Ukraine

This article describes assistance that is being provided as part of an institution building project with a view to making a lasting impact on the development of a democratic public service of Ukraine. It explains the nature of the project and the strategies adopted to overcome difficulties. It compares and contrasts approaches adopted by technical assistance projects in assisting administrative reform. It also examines the special nature of the Ukraine project that arises out of the distinctive context and needs of Ukraine. The article continues by examining the role of external assistance in validating the Ukrainian Institute of Public Administration and Local Government's Masters in Public Administration and the contribution made to the development and delivery of the Masters programme. A special feature of the project is the series of one-month internships when IPALG students visit London. The internship programme allows students to identify aspects of UK experience relevant to changes that Ukraine wishes to make in its administrative culture. As part of this programme, students are placed in government organizations and NGOs. The placements are complemented by a series of change management seminars that enable students to evaluate options for change, to assess their own role in the change process and recognize the key stages in the change process. The project team has undertaken a full evaluation of the first presentation of the programme and the article presents the findings.     

Policy Agendas for South Korea's Broadband Convergence Network Infrastructure Project

Broadband holds a critical position in the progress of economic and social indicators by connecting consumers, businesses, and governments. South Korea has consistently been the global leader in broadband deployment since 1999. In the last 10 years, the Korean government has pursued several strategies for its broadband policy. The purpose of this article was to explore South Korea's implementation of its Broadband Convergence Network (BcN) project with special emphasis on its objectives of achieving media convergence, ubiquitous connectivity, and coordination among network stakeholders. The study uses the theoretical framework of institutionalism to identify factors that help explain how the policy agenda for the BcN was implemented. The BcN is Korea's most recent high‐speed Internet infrastructure project and is envisioned as a conduit through which broadband services, applications, and content will flow to reflect a robust high‐speed Internet infrastructure. This broadband infrastructure project began in 2004 as a consortium that includes the government and private sector firms. This infrastructure was launched as a three‐phase project. The first phase of the BcN extended from 2004 through 2005, the second phase extended from 2006 through 2007, and the third phase extended from 2008 through 2010.     

The 'Objectivity' of a Liberatory Project and the Issue of 'Leaders': Preliminary Notes - in the Sequel of the Marx-Proudhon Exchange

After dealing with the 'objectivity' of a liberatory project, we go on to discuss the attacks on various liberatory projects on the grounds that they are centred around a 'leader' (who usually is the engineer of the project in question). We then see how these two factors may influence the possible deterioration of a liberatory project. This is done by referring to a historic example, the influence of the characters of Marx and Proudhon on the socialist and anarchist movements respectively, while trying to understand whether it is the personal traits or the 'objectivity' of a particular project that is to blame for it possibly becoming authoritarian during its realisation.     

The dilemma between mobilization and control in international aid the case of the Norwegian Sao Hill Sawmill project in Tanzania

How do specific aid projects in Tanzania strike a balance between control and mobilization, between efficient implementation of a well defined project and the mobilization of a local learning and competence building process? Can the same project organization do both efficiently, or does the control-mobilization relation represent a dilemma? And how do specific definitions of the balance between control and mobilization within projects affect state building locally? These questions are investigated in the context of the Sao Hill Sawmill (SHS) in Tanzania. The relationship between Tanzanian and Norwegian authorities is looked at (a) in the planning of the Mill, (b) in the early evaluations of it, and (c) in its first three years of operations. An attempt is made to show that decision models are both personally ‘constructed’ and systematically reproduced by institutions and that the distinction between control- and mobilization-focused models is of importance for how projects affect local institution building. Whether persons were recruited to the project from private or public institutions in Norway influenced their understanding of what the project was about. The data suggest that this simple distinction is significant for understanding how projects relate to local institutions and development processes. The material indicates that experts from Norwegian public institutions supported a more mobilization-oriented definition of the project, with the possibility of integrating it unobtrusively into existing local institutions. However, a surprise finding was that top-level administration in Tanzania supported the private participants more control-oriented definition.     

Exploring construction project design as multimodal social semiotic practice

ABSTRACT

The semiotic nature of design and engineering communications has often evaded direct interrogation; specifically the representation of requirements using multiple semiotic modes. This paper explores the semiotic character of requirement representation in the construction project design and engineering process by mobilising a social semiotic analytic framework to reveal how project artefacts (e.g. drawings; digital imagery; physical objects) are multimodal resources that critically affect stakeholder engagement and interpretation. The focused empirical study from a hospital construction project reveals the motivations and effects of multimodal and semiotic communicative choices of different parties (e.g. client; architect; engineer; design consultant) engaged on the same project; the representation (or not) of requirements via various semiotic modes being a social and political process. The contribution of the paper is in revealing the semiotic character of requirement representation and the relevance of semiotic-informed enquiry for an industry continuing to develop new technologies (e.g. virtual reality; BIM – building information modelling) for design and construction work.