Calculating the economic value of a museum or sports venue is harder than a bridge or power plant. Does that make these projects any less important?

At $195 million, the Vancouver City Centre Transmission Project wasn’t big enough to make this year’s Top 100. The project, which includes a new Vancouver substation and new underground transmission line, is the largest investment that BC Hydro has made in Vancouver in 30 years. It’s an investment equal to the $190 million being spent on the new Winnipeg Stadium, which was also too small to make this year’s list.

Is BC Hydro’s investment more important for Vancouver than this sporting complex is for Winnipeg?

Winnipeg’s stadium is moving forward, but other social infrastructure projects haven’t been so lucky. The Royal Alberta Museum was removed from this year’s Top 100 after funding fell through; Quebec City is having trouble sealing the deal on a new hockey arena. Museums, sports complexes, and parks are often seen as extras, investments that should not be made if basic public works assets still need attention.

But some would argue that creating a world-class city means investing in those amenities. Without those spaces to attract what author and academic Richard Florida calls the “creative class,” to drive tourism and draw event promoters, a city’s economy suffers. It can also be an opportunity to create iconic buildings that help brand a city, or attract global interest.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to monetize a strong brand. And not every arena or arts venue will benefit a city. There have been many sport and entertainment complexes proposed and built that some have argued were not worth the investment of the public’s tax dollars.

In February 2011, when federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty publicly floated the possibility of using the federal gas tax to fund a hockey arena in Quebec City, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who lobbied for years to have part of the federal gas tax dedicated to road repair and maintenance, came out against it, saying it could lead to more wasteful spending on future sports arenas. Quebec City’s planned $400-million hockey arena (for a team that doesn’t play in the city anymore) could have made this year’s Top 100, but with plans to move ahead still unclear and funding not entirely secured, it’s being held over until next year. The project’s final budget should be known in spring 2012. Some argue this type of spending in irresponsible in a province where transportation infrastructure desperately needs upgrading and replacement. At the time, Tasha Kheiriddin wrote in the National Post, “It is unjustifiable to spend public money on a pro sports arena.” She cited a study conducted by two U.S. professors showing these types of investments do not, in fact, yield the returns they claim. “Worse yet,” she wrote, “they risk turning into boondoggles like the Toronto Skydome, which cost taxpayers over $400 million before being sold to Rogers Communications for a scant $25 million.”

Another potential boondoggle: sports venues built for big, one-time events that then become money pits. Ontario is hoping the infrastructure it has chosen to build to accommodate the 2015 Pan Am Games will avoid that pitfall, serving the region long after the Games have ended. The Athletes’ Village (worth $1 billion, but it’s an entire development, not a single project, so it didn’t rank on the Top 100) is only speeding up work that Waterfront Toronto was planning already—that’s according to Infrastructure Ontario.

One Pan Am project in question was Hamilton’s stadium. The Ontario provincial government rescued the $152.1-million Ivor Wynne Stadium rebuild project in January 2011 by offering an extra $22.5 million to fill a funding gap. The province had already promised to contribute about $35 million to the project.

The opportunity to host the Pan Am Games was seen as a major win for Ontario. The boost to the province’s economy is expected to be substantial. However, major investments in projects like these with no promise of such a significant economic gain are always going to be a hard sell.