Resumen de Complexity and Uncertainty: Problem orAsset in Decision Making of MegaInfrastructure Projects?
Willem Salet, Luca Bertolini, Mendel Giezen
How should one cope with complexity and uncertainty in mega infrastructure projects?While rational theories tend to eliminate or reduce these unruly conditions, the authorsof this article are in search of a different approach to deal with the characteristics ofcomplexity and uncertainty proactively. Three theoretical reflections are introducedto explore possible solutions: (1) the change of institutions to address the problem ofexcessively simple structures for making decisions on complex projects; (2) the shapingof a learning environment in order to deal with uncertainty and emergent properties; and(3) balancing the generation and the reduction of a variety of policy options in order toselect a limited number of feasible options and to bridge the strategic exploration andthe operational processes of decision making. Informed by this conceptual thought,concrete pathways are developed and discussed by means of a case study of theconstruction of a high-speed railway line in the Netherlands.
