Public works - wikipedia Public works For the 2015 Dutch film, see Public Works ( film ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( June 2017 ) A US government poster from 1940, summarizing the Works Progress Administration 's achievements. Public works ( or internal improvements historically in the United States ) are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, schools, hospitals ), transport infrastructure ( roads, railroads, bridges, pipelines, canals, ports, airports ), public spaces ( public squares, parks, beaches ), public services ( water supply, sewage, electrical grid, dams ), and other, usually long - term, physical assets and facilities. Though often interchangeable with public infrastructure and public capital, public works does not necessarily carry an economic component, thereby being a broader term. Contents 1 Overview 2 Public works programmes 3 Utility of investment 4 See also 5 Sources and further reading 6 References 7 External links Overview Public works is a multi-dimensional concept in economics and politics, touching on multiple arenas including : recreation ( parks, beaches ), aesthetics ( trees, green space ), economy ( goods and people movement, energy ), law ( police and courts ), and neighborhood ( community centers, social services buildings ). Essentially, it represents any constructed object that augments a nation 's physical infrastructure. Municipal infrastructure, urban infrastructure, and rural development usually represent the same concept but imply either large cities or developing nations ' concerns respectively. The terms public infrastructure or critical infrastructure are at times used interchangeably. However, critical infrastructure includes public works ( dams, waste water systems, bridges, etc. ) as well as facilities like hospitals, banks, and telecommunications systems and views them from a national security viewpoint and the impact on the community that the loss of such facilities would entail. Furthermore, the term public works has recently been expanded to include digital public infrastructure projects. The first ( US ) nationwide digital public works project is an effort to create an open source software platform for e-voting ( created and managed by the OSDV ). Reflecting increased concern with sustainability, urban ecology and quality of life, efforts to move towards sustainable municipal infrastructure are common in developed nations, especially in European Union and Canada ( where the FCM InfraGuide provides an officially mandated best practice exchange to move municipalities in this direction ). Public works programmes A public employment programme ( PEP ) ' or ' public works programme ( PWP ) ' is the provision of employment by the creation of predominantly public goods at a prescribed wage for those unable to find alternative employment. This functions as a form of social safety net. PWPs are activities which entail the payment of a wage ( in cash or in kind ) by the state, or by an Agent ( or cash - for work / CFW ). One particular form of public works, that of offering a short - term period of employment, has come to dominate practice, particularly in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Applied in the short term, this is appropriate as a response to transient shocks and acute labour market crises. Investing in public works projects in order to stimulate the general economy has been a popular policy measure since the economic crisis of the 1930s. More recent examples are the 2008 - 2009 Chinese economic stimulus program, the 2008 European Union stimulus plan, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Utility of investment While it is argued that capital investment in public works can be used to reduce unemployment, opponents of internal improvement programs argue that such projects should be undertaken by the private sector, and not the public sector, because public works projects are characteristic of socialism. However, in the private sector, entrepreneurs bear their own losses and so private sector firms are generally unwilling to undertake projects that could result in losses or would not develop a revenue stream. Governments will invest in public works because of the overall benefit to society when there is a lack of private sector benefit ( a project that will not generate revenue ) or the risk is too great for a private company to accept on its own. According to research conducted at the Aalborg University, 86 % of public works projects end up with cost overruns. Some unexpected findings of the research were that : Technically difficult projects were not more likely to exceed the budget than less difficult projects Projects in which more people were directly and indirectly affected by the project turned out to be more susceptible to cost overruns Project managers generally did not learn from similar projects attempted in the past Generally contracts awarded by public tenders will include a provision for unexpected expenses ( i.e. cost overruns ), that typically amount to 10 % of the value of the contract. This money is only spent during the course of the project if the construction managers judge that it is necessary, and typically the expenditure must be justified in writing. See also Contingencies fund Infrastructure Internal improvements Public good, an economic discussion. Madaket Ditch, one of the first public works projects in America Individual programs : Egyptian Public Works New Deal, USA, 1930s Opera Publica Public Works Administration, part of the New Deal in 1930s Sources and further reading `` Political Economy of Very Large Space Projects '', Journal of Evolution and Technology. vol. 4. November 1999. When the Public Works : Generating Employment and Social Protection in Ethiopia, Peter Middlebrook, Lambert Academic Publishing. 2009. ISBN 978 - 3 - 8383 - 0672 - 8 References Jump up ^ Carter Goodrich, Government Promotion of American Canals and Railroads, 1800 - 1890 ( Greenwood Press, 1960 ) ) Jump up ^ Stephen Minicucci, Internal Improvements and the Union, 1790 -- 1860, Studies in American Political Development ( 2004 ), 18 : 2 : 160 - 185 Cambridge University Press. doi : 10.1017 / S0898588X04000094. Jump up ^ John Lauritz Larson, Internal Improvement : National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States, University of North Carolina Press, 2001. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8078 - 4911 - 8. Jump up ^ `` The TrustTheVote Project ''. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010. Jump up ^ `` A typology for Public Works Programming ''. Overseas Development Institute. December 2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Jump up ^ Natuurwetenschap & Techniek Magazine April 2009 Jump up ^ Project peculiars External links Look up public works in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. American Public Works Association - Professional society Public services Municipalization Nationalization Progressive tax Concepts Public administration Public domain Public health Public interest Public land Public ownership Public policy Public procurement Public value Basic services Civil service Fire department Law enforcement Postal service Savings system Public broadcasting Public transport Public utility Electric utility Oil & gas Telecommunication Municipal broadband Public water system Waste management Public works Infrastructure Public bank Public hospital Public library Public school Public space Public university Social services Single - payer health care National health insurance Public housing Social insurance Social pension Social security Commons NDL : 00566501 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public_works&oldid=799852544 '' Categories : Civil engineering Fiscal policy Infrastructure Public economics Public works ministries Domestic policy Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from March 2011 Articles needing additional references from June 2017 All articles needing additional references Use dmy dates from March 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Español Français Italiano Latina Lietuvių Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Українська Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 10 September 2017, at 06 : 20. 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Question: the public works administration help make improvements to what part of the nation's economy
Answer: internal