The development of large public infrastructure projects: integrating policy and project studies models

Project management theory often reduces development to a simplistic and smooth process of consultation leading to a consensual set of requirements. However, in large public infrastructure projects, this is rarely the case as development is often subject to major power struggles. This article shows that public policy theory has an excellent potential to shed a fresh light on project development. An integrated model combining the theoretical insights from the Advocacy Coalition Framework and project development studies is presented and illustrated using the case of a major Canadian city streetcar network megaproject. The implications of the model for understanding “wicked problems” are discussed.