The problem/solution nexus in megaproject planning

Abstract This paper explores the development of the ‘problem/solution nexus’ of a cancelled mega urban transport project in Melbourne, Australia. The East-West Link (Eastern Section) was the most recent iteration of a cross-town motorway connection that has been proposed numerous times since the 1960s, most recently in early 2013. After a State parliamentary election in November 2014, in which the opposition party defeated the incumbent, the project contracts were cancelled, amid widespread community discontent. This research employs the concept of ‘problem/solution nexus’ – in which problem and solution are recursively generated and arise in tandem – to explore the historical framing of the problems the project was intended to solve. We perform a discourse analysis of planning documents and government reports, complemented by interviews with several policy-makers and analysts. Our work demonstrates how the problematisation of the project was changed in key documents to make the solution appear more viable, which propelled the project forward and means a likely return in the future.