The tortoise in the urban development network: How social relations affect decision-making speed in a road expansion project in Kristiansand, Norway

Abstract

ABSTRACT Why do urban development projects take a long time to complete? This question is of paramount importance, both practically and academically. Practically, understanding the reasons for delays in these projects can help improve project efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance stakeholder satisfaction. Academically, the study contributes to the field of urbanization by applying social network analysis (SNA) to explore the interactions and relationships among decision-makers in urban development projects. This study draws upon original data from a road extension project in Kristiansand to illustrate and explain why the implementation of large development projects suffers from convoluted and slow decision-making processes after an overall agreement on project aims and goals has been established. This study draws on a sample of 33 actors who participated in the decisions concerning the project. I collected the data through a combination of interviews and document reviews and subsequently analyzed them using social network structural metrics and visualization techniques. The results show that the actors are connected in less dense, more centralized, and clustered networks with subgroups and low reciprocity which have hampered efficient communication, resulting in delays. The findings imply that the pattern of relationships among decision-making actors can affect the amount of time taken to reach conclusions in urban development initiatives.