Geo-spatial accounting for the socio-economic impacts of megaprojects: Towards operationalization of Megaproject Social Responsibility

Abstract

Megaprojects are crucial to address the current challenges of climate change and sustainability. Despite the growing interest in Megaproject Social Responsibility, there is still a lack of accounting protocols, standards and frameworks so widespread to monitor the short, medium, and long-term impacts megaprojects may generate both on local territories and communities. This work presents an original geospatial accounting protocol for megaprojects to monitor and assess the generated impacts during all the life cycle phases, from the initial planning and design to the construction and use phase. The proposed protocol includes a three-step methodology - definition of relevant indicators and aspects, 2) identification of a counterfactual territory, and 3) comparison of trends - and six macro areas - from socio-economic impacts to cultural identity preservation or the governance of sustainability. The protocol has then been applied to a relevant highly contested megaproject, i.e., the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway in Italy, to highlight the pros, cons, and limitations of such protocol. This work represents a first development and test of a geospatial accounting application for megaprojects and it can support future policies and managerial decisions, as well as it represents a highly scalable and reproducible operationalization approach for Megaproject Social Responsibility.