Engineers see numbers as design constraints, economists see numbers as risk and efficiency, politicians see numbers as credit or blame, whilst the public often sees numbers more simply: either “too expensive” or “money saved”.
The same "numbers" (cost, scope, debt and projections) can be interpreted very differently depending on perspective.
Still, one pattern continues to repeat itself in large public infrastructure projects.
At the start, everything is about vision. During construction, everything is about...