What links the iconic Sydney Opera House, Monsters Inc and the mess that is HS2? Well, they involve all giant projects and most conform to the “iron law” that schemes costing $1bn or more always end up over time and budget. According to the data, a piddling 0.5% get delivered on time, for the right price, and produce the forecast benefits.
So with the world facing a mountain of infrastructure projects to deal with everything from the climate crisis to clapped-out transport systems, we talk to infrastructure expert Bent Flyvbjerg of Oxford University about some of the disasters and also the rare successes such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao to find out what separates the winners from the duds.
Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins, with Bent Flyvbjerg. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot in association with Briefcase.News.