Dynamic network analysis of stakeholder conflicts in megaprojects : sixteen-year case of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

Abstract

Stakeholder conflicts are hard to avoid in the implementation of megaprojects due to the diverse interests and aims among stakeholders. The previous study does not provide much evidence on dynamic patterns of stakeholder conflicts in the project duration from the planning to the construction and handover stage. Therefore, this study established a network-based framework to analyze the dynamics of stakeholder conflicts by detecting the critical conflicts and the affected relationships among stakeholders with a 16-year case study of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project. Finally, a stakeholder-conflict map was proposed to provide management strategies considering the conflict criticalness and stakeholder participation of each stakeholder conflict. After reviewing 1,748 official documents from 2003 to 2018, the chronological features of environmental conflicts, neighboring conflicts, and traditional conflicts are detected. The changes of stakeholder relationships in the project duration are discussed by five stakeholder groups: local industry, green group, supervision group, construction group, and governmental organizations. The Mirror Z strategies of stakeholder conflicts are proposed in the phases of planning, construction, and handover, respectively.