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Research Article
5 January 2015

Resilient practices: a paradox-oriented approach for large-scale development projects

Publication: Town Planning Review
Volume 86, Number 3

Abstract

Large-scale development projects are facing a period of change. The notion of resilience has recently been attracting attention from academics and policymakers who are trying to understand how complex systems can navigate a path through such changing times. The usefulness of this concept is critically explored by focusing on the management paradoxes found in these projects. We argue that the global economic crisis once again proved that resiliently managed large-scale development projects have to balance the equally present needs for flexibility and innovation with efficiency and reliability. Projects have to embrace these paradoxes as continuous, crucial, and even productive facts of organisational life. A set of cognitive and operational indicators on different levels of scale are formulated to conduct a pilot study, and guide further empirical research.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Town Planning Review
Volume 86Number 3May 2015
Pages: 257 - 277

History

Published online: 5 January 2015
Published in print: May 2015

Keywords

  1. resilience
  2. large-scale urban development projects
  3. paradox
  4. ambidexterity
  5. management

Authors

Affiliations

Stan Majoor [email protected]
Stan Majoor is Assistant Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies of the University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15629, 1001 NC Amsterdam, The Netherlands; email: [email protected]

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