MegaProject Impact Assessment

The modern history of resource development began in the 1800s at the onset of the mass-production phase of the Industrial Revolution. During the transition from an agrarian to an industrial-based exchange economy, discrete jumps occurred in the number and scale of resource projects. However, during the past two centuries these ‘phase jumps’ have been associated increasingly with specific advances in technology (for example, the steam engine) and the amassing and targeting of major capital outlays (for example, for hydroelectric projects or construction of transcontinental railroads (see Anderson (1986), discussion on logistical revolutions). These ‘jumps’ have become increasingly larger steps (for example, the Erie Canal in the nineteenth century vs. Panama Canal in the twentieth century). As small, similar and near term resource development projects were completed, only larger, more difficult, more distant and unique projects remained for full development. Further, with the advance of technology, new projects became feasible that had not previously been possible. Hence, larger, more complex and higher-risk projects have become increasingly necessary to meet the rising demands of the world’s population and the economic necessities of survival. This process does not seem to be abating, particularly in the developing world, where the need for more effective resource utilization is spurred by economic, political and population pressure, and where new technology is rapidly being adopted.