In this chapter we examine the governance, financing and management of the two largest infrastructure projects currently underway in London: the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) and the Crossrail scheme (now called the Elizabeth Line). Both reflect the London model and have come into being through negotiations between multiple levels of government and global parastate delivery agencies and financiers. As noted throughout the book, the undergoverned nature of London's political institutions means that it has been down to national government to initiate and support the projects financially and legislatively. Mayors and other city actors, such as London First, have played the role of lobbyists, calling for additional funds through narratives of spatial justice and need. In this respect they reflect the broader shift in national spending on infrastructure towards London on the grounds that it supports the only major global centre in the UK that is capable of “competing” internationally for new forms of investment.

At the same time, the projects generate lucrative commercial opportunities for parastate agencies to make financial returns and to use London's built environments as an “asset base” for the mobilization of private capital and debt. We show how companies have become involved and how they are shaping London's infrastructures to meet their financial needs. The projects are especially attractive opportunities for institutional investment by “patient” capital, much of it from international sources, and have been funded in part for their sustainability credentials, while diverting attention away from wider questions over whether or not such growth is desirable and/or who benefits from it.

We begin with the building of the TTT before moving on to the case of Crossrail. In each we discuss the emergence of the projects, who has been behind them and who benefits.

The Thames Tideway Tunnel: the emergence of the project

The 25km TTT “super sewer” is due to be completed in 2024, although it is now anticipated that there will be a significant delay because of the Covid- 19 pandemic (Mayor of London 2020b). National government gave development consent on 12 September 2014 and its financing comes from: £1.3 billion of private shareholder funds up front; a £1 billion revolving credit facility provided by investors; £0.7 billion from the European Investment Bank as an RPI index-linked loan; and £0.45 billion forward start index- linked bonds (Tideway Ltd 2017).