ABSTRACT
Large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams have an important and controversial place in development planning. They offer substantial benefits such as electricity generation and irrigation, and yet have substantial social and environmental impacts. This chapter reviews the way dam projects are planned and managed, debates about their impacts, and efforts to make them an effective part of sustainable development strategies. The chapter opens with a discussion of the symbolic power of dams to epitomise the ideas of development and of modernity. It then considers the history of large-scale technocratic development projects, particularly large-scale water engineering in the developing world. In the second half of the twentieth century, the idea of river basin planning was widely adopted, and large dams were built to control rivers in many developing countries. The chapter then turns to the impacts of dams, looking first at reservoir resettlement and then at impacts on downstream rivers, floodplains and people. It analyses the rise of environmental opposition to dams, making links to environmentalism, and the emergence of the idea of sustainable development. The chapter then attempts to address the negative impacts of dams, looking in particular at the work of the World Commission on Dams 1998–2000 and what followed it. Finally, the chapter reviews the recent resurgence of dam construction and its links to the idea that dams are a ‘green’ source of energy. It discusses why dams still cause harm despite the knowledge that exists about their impacts. It considers how those most seriously impacted by dam construction might be turned into beneficiaries using techniques such as planned releases.
