TY - JOUR
T1 - Decision-Making on Transport Infrastructure and Contested Information
T2 - A Critical Analysis of Three Approaches
AU - Martens, Karel
AU - van Weelden, Peter
N1 - Funding Information: Part of the results presented in this paper have been developed within the framework of a project funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, which was held on 23–27 January 2011 in Washington DC, USA. The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which have substantially helped to improve the paper. Peter van Weelden would like to thank his former employer Royal Haskoning and his former colleagues at Royal Haskon-ing for their support during the writing of this article and the underlying research.
PY - 2014/3
Y1 - 2014/3
N2 - Information is highly contested in virtually all decision-making processes on large infrastructure projects, leading to the delay or cancellation of projects. Contested information has two characteristics: uncertainty and ambiguity. The uncertainty of information refers to the lack of reliable knowledge about the characteristics and future effects of infrastructure projects. The ambiguity of information means that different actors have different (legitimate and valid) perspectives on the characteristics and effects of infrastructure projects. Information is contested if both uncertainty and ambiguity apply. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework based on different perspectives on rationality and the role ascribed to information in decision-making. We then use this framework to analyse three approaches aiming to deal with the contested nature of information. The analysis shows that none of the approaches can fully deal with the contested nature of information, because no practically feasible approach has yet been developed to effectively address the ambiguity of information. We end with a brief discussion of the possible responses to this finding.
AB - Information is highly contested in virtually all decision-making processes on large infrastructure projects, leading to the delay or cancellation of projects. Contested information has two characteristics: uncertainty and ambiguity. The uncertainty of information refers to the lack of reliable knowledge about the characteristics and future effects of infrastructure projects. The ambiguity of information means that different actors have different (legitimate and valid) perspectives on the characteristics and effects of infrastructure projects. Information is contested if both uncertainty and ambiguity apply. In this paper, we develop a theoretical framework based on different perspectives on rationality and the role ascribed to information in decision-making. We then use this framework to analyse three approaches aiming to deal with the contested nature of information. The analysis shows that none of the approaches can fully deal with the contested nature of information, because no practically feasible approach has yet been developed to effectively address the ambiguity of information. We end with a brief discussion of the possible responses to this finding.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84895739194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09654313.2013.783665
DO - 10.1080/09654313.2013.783665
M3 - مقالة
SN - 0965-4313
VL - 22
SP - 648
EP - 666
JO - European Planning Studies
JF - European Planning Studies
IS - 3
ER -
