Prioritizing efficiency metrics over public support erodes an institution’s democratic legitimacy.

Evidence

In addition, the Authority’s obsession with the self-financing and efficiency aspects of existing and new construction projects undermined democratic accountability (Doig, 2001). The PA often clashed with local communities in its efforts to initiate new projects. The Authority allowed financial estimates and efficiency considerations to overshadow the importance of public support, such as when it set out to build the WTC (Walsh, 1978, p. 103). The construction of the WTC exceeded its budget by one billion dollars: ‘a monument to the city’s former glory as a port and to the Authority’s audacious ability to get its own way’ (Doig, 2001, p. 385, quoting the The New York Times). — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 301

Categorization

• CANDY: The World Trade Center came in a billion dollars over budget and was skewered as a monument to the Authority’s ‘audacious ability to get its own way.’
• ADDENDUM: Speaks to the published piece on trees-as-infrastructure only indirectly; better framed as a standalone on technocratic agencies and public accountability.