Next Generation Infrastructure by Hillary Brown is a Must Read for Sustainable Cities

Next Generation Infrastructure by Hillary Brown is wonderful and important book published a few years back (in 2014) and still needs to be more forefront in the minds of development companies and agencies as well as city planners, managers, etc. The key premise and is that infrastructure should be conceived as an ecology of related services. As Brown says:

Natural ecosystems and human-made infrastructures are not simply a universe of discrete objects but rather are vital working parts embedded in networks that share energy, matter, and information (2014: 7). 

She goes on to list 5 key principles of more interconnected infrastructure systems. These are (2014: 11):

1. Systems should be multipurpose, interconnected, and synergistic.

2. Infrastructure should contribute few or no carbon emissions.

3. Infrastructure should work with natural processes.

4. Infrastructure should improve social contexts and serve local constituencies.

5. Infrastructure should be resilient and adapt to predicted changes brought about by an unstable global climate.

It implies that every cubic meter of concrete utilized, should generate multiple benefits. Bridges should be generating both wind and hydro energy as well support for radical sports and more. Fluid transfer (water, sewage, and perhaps drainage) can be conceived as possible mini-hydro systems and so on. 

The book brings an inter-relational approach (complexity theory) to urban infrastructure. It introduces and discusses novel ideas like co-location and co-development and it provides a number of case studies in cities ranging from Lille to Singapore, from New York to Portland. It is an essential read for anyone involved in sustainable cities development. 

It can be read/found online at Springer and other places.