Reducing complexity in urban infrastructure projects

This paper presents results of an analysis of the most relevant urban guided transportation projects of the last decades, to understand root causes of failures and relevant variances from previously estimated parameters. We collected information from all side of the project – history of the transportation network, social environment, technical choices – reading documentation and interviewing stakeholders. Major problems emerging during the executing phases turn out to be managerial and referable to project management areas. So we addressed to the modern theory of project management based on complexity, which seemed to be fit for urban transportation projects.