An investigative study of challenges and opportunities of mega construction projects in developing countries

Ayman A.E. Othman and Fatma O. Alamoudy

Chapter 15 in Research Companion to Advances in the Construction Industry in the Global South, 2026, pp 343-373 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Mega Construction Projects (MCPs) are complex and challenging due to their nature, and technical and financial requirements. Their large scale and diverse functions make them riskier in planning and execution compared to other types of projects. Because of their contribution towards achieving sustainable development goals, developing countries strive to construct MCPs. Nevertheless, MCPs’ failure rate in such countries is particularly severe due to various challenges including engineering, human development, managerial, political, and sustainability challenges. Accordingly, this research aims to investigate the challenges and opportunities of MCPs in developing countries. A systematic deductive approach will be implemented to achieve a set of objectives. First, conducting a bibliometric mapping to identify trending keywords and top-cited research. This will be followed by a manual screening of previous scholarly work for a comprehensive understanding of related keywords. Second, a list of MCPs from the past decade will be presented and analysed to validate the challenges and opportunities for their development compared to scholarly work. The chapter will help set the future research direction of the topic at hand as well as set guidelines for governmental authorities, design firms, project managers and stakeholders in developing countries towards overcoming the challenges and exploiting the opportunities in the development process of MCPs.

Keywords: Developing countries; Mega construction projects; Large-scale; Challenges; Opportunities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035349012
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