DN

Dr. ir. Johan Ninan

44 records found

Actor-networks in sustainable transport transformation

The case of the Catharijnesingel restoration

As cities evolve, navigating the complex interplay between social and technical elements is crucial for achieving sustainable urban development. This paper uses a case-study approach and applies actor-network theory (ANT) to understand the sociotechnical complexities of urban tra ...

Managing stakeholders for implementing innovations

The case of a flood protection project in Kenya

Innovative projects, such as those for flood protection in developing countries, are urgent, stakeholder intense, and need to be carried out even in contexts where sufficient governance frameworks are not in place. This research seeks to understand how innovative projects can be ...
Infrastructure projects undergo multiple changes throughout their lifecycle, adapting to new mobilities, technologies and environments. We build on the System of Systems (SoS) theoretical concept to understand the implications of such infrastructure transformations, specifically ...

Good Governance, Strong Trust

Building Community Among an Australian City Rebuilding Project

In this article, co-authors Johan Ninan, Stewart Clegg, Ashwin Mahalingam, and Shankar Sankaran reflect on their research interests and the inspiration behind their recent article, “Governance Through Trust: Community Engagement in an Australian City Rebuilding Precinct,” found i ...

Online Firestorms in Twitter

Exploring Risks to Large Infrastructure Projects from Digital Communities

Large infrastructure projects can often cause disruptions with those outside the immediate project area experiencing negative effects. Twitter (now X) and its ensuing online firestorms are ways these project community make themselves heard and influence the project and its societ ...

Safetywashing

The Strategic Use of Safety in the Construction Industry

In this article, we discuss the concept of safetywashing defined as the strategic practice of promoting, marketing, and branding of safety practices without full disclosure of negative information to improve the image of the organization. The research seeks to answer two question ...
Under the rubric of project governance, governmentality has been defined as a general mode of governing people in projects, whether these projects are organized in an authoritarian, liberal, or neo-liberal mode in their approach to authority relations. We argue that governmentali ...
The concept of governmentality has proven useful to analyse how the reflexive management of people within and without the project is conducted. In this chapter we explore the organizational theory of governmentality and its importance in project settings. First, we identify the s ...

Reimagining Infrastructure Megaproject Delivery

An Australia—New Zealand Perspective

Infrastructure megaprojects are increasing in size and number worldwide. Widespread shortcomings such as cost overruns, delays, litigious threats, and community opposition are now so pervasive there is a clear mandate to rethink the way we plan, deliver, and operate our infrastru ...

Ports for SDGs

An Ecosystem Perspective on Infrastructure Megaprojects

Infrastructure megaprojects have long been a subject of debate in relation to sustainability. These massive undertakings often result in inefficiencies during project delivery, affect local communities, and contribute to carbon emissions throughout their lifecycle (Söderlund, San ...

Comparisons as a discursive tool

Shaping megaproject narratives in the United Kingdom

The mobilization of narratives is essential in integrating people and constructing identities that help in navigating complexity, uncertainty, and conflictuality. This paper explores how comparisons are used as a discursive tool to shape narratives and bring about changes in poli ...
Megaprojects combine multiple external stakeholders, and a common narrative is essential to drive the project among often conflicting objectives. The research project considers the single in-depth qualitative case study of the High Speed Two (HS2) megaproject in the UK to explore ...
Projects are peopled at all levels, and people make sense of their lives via narrative thought as the temporal and dramatic dimension of human existence is emphasized in them. Narratives organize people’s lived experiences and create order out of random incidents and events. Such ...

Megaproject and the city

Theorizing social media discourses across the lifecycle of an infrastructure project

Managing the perception of project communities is critical to the success of infrastructure megaprojects. This study focuses on the Nagpur metro rail project in India to understand people's experiences and discourses in the pre-construction, construction, and operation phases. We ...
This book is a novel contribution to a field dominated by conventional approaches to project management; it is about narratives in megaprojects. Among the questions examined in this original new book are: What are narratives? Why are they important in megaprojects? How are they f ...
The objective of this research study was to investigate the role of narratives in shaping multiple innovations in the UK construction industry. A total of 133 innovation stories published in a year are compiled from a digital portal Infrastructure Industry Innovation Partnership ...

Organizing resilient infrastructure initiatives

A study on conceptualization, motivation, and operation of ten initiatives in the Netherlands

Resilient infrastructure is critical to a sustainable and functioning society. Infrastructure management and (re)development are highly complex processes encompassing various stakeholders’ interests while they are pressured by the uncertainty of climate change and social transiti ...
City rebuilding precincts are embedded in, surrounded by, and sometimes resisted or celebrated by stakeholders they impact. These projects require long-lasting relationships and loyalty from the community they serve, making trust a crucial factor. This article employs a case stud ...