How do megaprojects influence institutional change?

Abstract

Abstract A growing body of research emphasizes the importance of institutions for megaproject performance. Extant studies focus on understanding the characteristics of favourable institutional environments and the governance structures that projects can adopt to navigate both favourable and unfavourable environments. This paper contributes to this research by foregrounding the link between megaprojects and changes in the institutional environments within which they are embedded. Building on a case study of the Thames Tideway Tunnel—the UK’s largest water and sewerage infrastructure project since the privatization of the industry in 1989—the paper presents two distinct ways that projects can interact with formal institutions: institutional compliance and institutional change. A more holistic understanding of the latter is essential because megaprojects can reconfigure production and consumption patterns to the benefit of some and the detriment of others. By contributing to changes in the institutional environment, megaprojects can further entrench these reconfigured patterns into long-enduring formal rules and practices.