By Dorn C. McGrath, Jr., AICP, professor of urban and regional planning at the George Washington University, where he also serves as chairman of the Department of Geography and as director of the Institute for Urban Development Research. He also is a member of the executive committee of the board of the Pericles Institute. It refers to the basic facilities serving a country, city or neighborhood, such as those that deliver water and electricity, provide for sewage disposal and make it possible to drive or take the bus, subway or train to work. But, on a larger scale the term includes the seaports, the airports and the air traffic control system, the waterways and canals and the flood control dams and levees. It includes military installations of all types, and the pipelines and fuel storage facilities that make it possible to heat homes and fill up cars at any hour of any day, nationwide.
Infrastructure defines the difference between the developed and the developing nations.
American infrastructure is envied throughout the world, and it sets the standard for all emerging economies. But essential infrastructure comes at a price, and for all Americans some big bills are coming due. Every major system that serves our society is subject to the pressures of obsolescence, lack of maintenance and expanding demand. It also prescribed strong criteria for comprehensive planning to guide the choices among modes and their designs. The City of New York takes a broader view.