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A
Bridge to the
Twentieth Century: Megaproject Technocracy and the Columbia River
Crossing
Introduction
Who are the actors involved?
The Future of the CRC
References & Links
Comments
& questions to:
ambrown@macalester.edu
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A
Bridge to the
Twentieth Century: Megaproject Technocracy and the Columbia River
Crossing
Intent of Project / Purpose of this WebsiteThis
website was created for Professor Roopali Phadke's Citizenship and
Science course, in which we explored the role of science in informing
public debate and the role that democracy and the body politic have to
play in the participation of science inquiry. As a Geography Major and
an Urban Studies Concentrator, I decided it'd be interesting to ask
these questions in relation to a specific political controversy
currently happening in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. I've been
following the discussions about the Columbia River Crossing for over
two years, and as someone who is passionate about studying local
governance, transportation infrastructure, urban form and how these
concepts relate to social justice and sustainability, I am excited to
reframe the history and current struggles over this project within the
context of the questions that we've asked within our course.
Urban
and Regional Planning is as much of a "science" as many of the other
disciplines discussed by my peers, and because the ramifications of
their decisions are so literally writ onto our urban landscape, it is
easy to see how decisions made in the name of "science" can
significantly impact our community. This website points out the
necessity of public participation in this science, and the importance
of making sure the values espoused by our
governmental transportation planners are aligned with the concerns
of the community they claim to work for. Transportation
planning over the last half-century has been almost entirely dominated
by technocratic, transportation engineers who are able to circumvent
traditional democratic methods of decision-making through the
utilization of scientifically-based modeling and close ties to
governing agencies, and this website examines the potential
implementation of the CRC as a case study to determine how this model
holds up in a progressive, democratically-engaged, planning-conscious
region.
This
website uses the history and current political controversy surrounding
the construction of this facility as a case study to explore how the
technical implementation of infrastructure megaprojects is (or isn’t)
influenced by interscalar democratic political systems. By exploring all of the current stakeholders in the debate,
ranging from political organizations such as state-level departments of
transportation and local municipalities to private interests including
local businesses, unions and nearby residents we can see how each of
these entities utilize their relative political muscle to advocate for
their ideal version of the facility and what forms of knowledge are
employed by each actor in their articulation of their position.
I make no attempt to hide my criticisms of both the political
process
which has guided the planning for this megaproject nor the currently
discussed plans intended for implementation in the years ahead. By
discussing these issues in the context of the topics of this course, I
hope to provide a starting point for discussion about possible
solutions to this potential asphalt monstrosity; how has science been
used to support/critique this project? Who is funding the "science"
used to implement the Columbia River Crossing? What is the role of a
transportation technocrat in designing these projects? Whose voices and
"expertises" count in the discussion, and on what forms of science are
these types of knowledge based?
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Last updated: 3rd May 2010
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