Two Megaprojects—One City. Learning between Large-Scale Urban Development Projects on Tenerife, Spain

Abstract

Inner-city megaprojects have become a typical element in the neoliberal city and are associated with multiple conflicts such as undemocratic planning, cost explosions and (green) gentrification. This chapter analyzes two neighboring megaprojects (Cabo-Llanos Plan and Santa Cruz Verde 2030) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain) and explores if there are learning processes of primary and secondary stakeholders between the two projects. I conducted 18 qualitative interviews with the town hall, architects, neighborhood associations and real estate experts. The results indicate how each stakeholder group learned particularly in the area that affects them most, for example with regard to urbanism, housing, and public spaces. The project’s initiators show a clear learning process, as the new megaproject (Santa Cruz Verde 2030) takes up several deficits revealed by the former megaproject (Cabo-Llanos Plan). However, this chapter questions the motivation behind this learning, as the apparently sustainable mask of the project rather conceals the entrepreneurial logics. Hence, this study reveals the potential of integrating stakeholders into planning processes, but it also shows how spatial injustices are reproduced.