Infrastructure

Infrastructure
Grand Coulee Dam
Assets and facilities Airports Bridges Broadband Canals Coastal management Critical infrastructure Dams Electricity Energy Hazardous waste Hospitals Irrigation schemes Levees Lighthouses Parks Pipeline transport Ports Mass transit Public housing State schools Public spaces Rail Roads Sewage treatment Sewerage Sluices Solid waste Telecommunication Utilities Water supply Weirs
Concepts Asset management Appropriation Lindahl tax Build–operate–transfer Design–bid–build Design–build Earmark European green infrastructure Fixed cost Engineering contracts Externality Government debt Green infrastructure Life-cycle assessment Maintenance Monopoly Property tax Public–private partnership Public capital Public finance Public good Public sector Renovation Replacement (upgrade) Spillover Supply chain Taxation
Issues and ideas Air traffic control Brownfield Carbon footprint Containerization Congestion pricing Ecotax Ethanol fuel Fuel tax Groundwater High-speed rail Hybrid vehicles Land-use planning Mobile data terminal Pork barrel Rapid bus transit Recycling Renewables Reverse osmosis Smart grid Smart growth Stormwater Urban sprawl Traffic congestion Transit-oriented development Fuel efficiency Waste-to-energy Weatherization Wireless technology
Fields of study Architecture Chemical engineering Civil Electrical Mechanical engineering Public economics Public policy Urban planning
Examples Akashi Kaikyō Bridge Trans-Alaska pipeline Autobahn Bicycle parking station Brazilian energy independence Brooklyn Bridge Channel Tunnel Chicago wastewater China's high-speed rail Curtiba rapid bus transit Cycling infrastructure (history, safety) Danish wind-power British offshore wind-power Nuclear power in France Solar power in Germany Hoover Dam Hong Kong Int'l Airport Intercity Express Interstate highways Jamnagar Refinery Kansai Int'l Airport Levee Offshore wind port Panama Canal Port of Shanghai San Francisco Bay Bridge Three Gorges Dam Shinkansen Spanish high-speed rail French TGV rail Spanish autovias and autopistas Transcontinental Railroad Power transmission in the USA Wind farm
Category Engineering portal
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Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area,^[1] and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function.^[2] Infrastructure is composed of public and private physical structures such as roads, railways, bridges, airports, public transit systems, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications (including Internet connectivity and broadband access). In general, infrastructure has been defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions" and maintain the surrounding environment.^[3]

Especially in light of the massive societal transformations needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, contemporary infrastructure conversations frequently focus on sustainable development and green infrastructure. Acknowledging this importance, the international community has created policy focused on sustainable infrastructure through the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Sustainable Development Goal 9 "Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure".

One way to describe different types of infrastructure is to classify them as two distinct kinds: hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure.^[4] Hard infrastructure is the physical networks necessary for the functioning of a modern industrial society or industry.^[5] This includes roads, bridges, and railways. Soft infrastructure is all the institutions that maintain the economic, health, social, environmental, and cultural standards of a country.^[5] This includes educational programs, official statistics, parks and recreational facilities, law enforcement agencies, and emergency services.