Overview
Includes five key principles of next-generation infrastructure that provide a clear roadmap for improving our failing systems
Highlights global examples of successful multi-purpose, resilient, and low-carbon infrastructure projects
Infrastructure in the United States is in desperate need of repair and change, especially in light of a changing climate. In 2013, the system received a grade of D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Access this book
Other ways to access
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
The 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis-St. Paul quickly became symbolic of the debilitated interstate highway system—and of what many critics see as America’s disinvestment in its infrastructure. The extreme vulnerability of single-purpose, aging infrastructure was highlighted once again when Hurricane Sandy churned its way across the northeast United States. Inundating New York City’s vital arteries, floodwaters overwhelmed tunnels and sewers; closed bridges; shut down mass transit; curtailed gas supplies; and destroyed streets, buildings, and whole neighborhoods.
Next Generation Infrastructure takes a critical but ultimately hopeful look at how our infrastructure networks can be made more efficient, less environmentally damaging, and more resilient. Brown argues that, if we’re to chart a course for global sustainability, we must begin to design, regulate, and finance infrastructure that decouples carbon-intensive and ecologically harmful technologies from critical infrastructure systems, namely the essential systems for contemporary society: water, wastewater, power, solid waste, transportation, and communication. The book highlights hopeful examples from around the world, ranging from the Mount Poso cogeneration plant in California to urban rainwater harvesting in Seoul, South Korea, to the multi-purpose Marina Barrage project in Singapore.
Brown encourages us to envision infrastructure within a larger economic, environmental, and social context, and to share resources across systems, reducing costs and extending benefits. This is a must read for professionals and students interested in a more resilient urban future including urban designers, architects, urban planners, urban policymakers, landscape architects, and engineers.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Next Generation Infrastructure
Book Subtitle: Principles for Post-Industrial Public Works
Authors: Hillary Brown
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-202-0
Publisher: Island Press Washington, DC
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Hillary Brown 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61091-202-0Published: 27 May 2014
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 250
Topics: Waste Water Technology / Water Pollution Control / Water Management / Aquatic Pollution, Urbanism, Urban Geography / Urbanism (inc. megacities, cities, towns), Civil Engineering