GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT SUCCESS: THE ROLE OF GRIEVANCE REDRESS SYSTEMS

Infrastructure development remains central to economic transformation, particularly in developing countries where investments in transport, energy, water, and telecommunications underpin growth and service delivery (Ika & Pinto, 2022; Turner & Zolin, 2024). However, despite increasing investment, infrastructure projects continue to experience persistent delays, cost overruns, and social conflict, often linked to land acquisition disputes, weak stakeholder engagement, and ineffective grievance redress mechanisms (Abdelaty et al., 2023; Ameyaw et al., 2021; World Bank, 2024). Moreover, while project management literature increasingly recognises that project success extends beyond the iron triangle, empirical research remains fragmented across risk management, stakeholder engagement, and conflict resolution domains (Ciric et al., 2022; Shenhar et al., 2023). This study conducts a systematic review guided by the PRISMA framework to synthesise evidence on the relationships between land acquisition risk, community consent, grievance redress mechanism (GRM) effectiveness, and project success. A structured search across major academic databases yielded 22 eligible studies covering infrastructure, renewable energy, and public project implementation contexts.