Strategic Infrastructure and Administrative Challenges: From NIMBY to BANANA and other extremes

Opposition to infrastructure projects is a complex issue involving local resistance, environmental concerns, and national interests. Movements like NIMBY and BANANA highlight the tension between local communities’ interests and national policies, especially in energy and waste management. This study analyses three dynamics developed by leading scholars: the scapegoat mechanism, the tyranny of the status quo, and the pressure valve. The NIMBY phenomenon is often used to shift blame onto protesting communities, causing systemic inertia. The study advocates for a more inclusive interpretation of vicinitas, allowing collective entities to access justice regardless of geographic location. Recognising and deconstructing these dynamics is in fact crucial for restoring democratic participation and preventing administrative governance from becoming structurally immobilised.