Infrastructure decisions made today will define civilisational outcomes tomorrow. These articles explore how:
Transport
New research reveals that different demographic groups follow entirely distinct pathways to autonomous vehicle adoption, challenging infrastructure planners to design systems that accommodate multiple transition routes rather than assuming universal adoption patterns. Read the original article
Cross-Sector
The space sector's transition from exploration to utility validation marks a fundamental shift in how we conceptualize critical infrastructure boundaries and dependencies. Read the original article
Cross-Sector
How should infrastructure systems adapt when human economic value becomes decoupled from labor? This framework challenges professionals to design for human dignity rather than productivity. Read the original article
Digital
How will generative AI reshape work and governance in Southern Africa's emerging industries, and what does this reveal about digital infrastructure's role in perpetuating or disrupting global economic hierarchies? Read the original article
Cross-Sector
New research mapping 38 potential sites for massive ocean carbon removal reveals how climate infrastructure decisions today could fundamentally alter marine ecosystems for centuries—but who gets to decide the ocean's future? Read the original article
Cross-Sector
How might infrastructure systems learn to sense and respond like a planetary nervous system, integrating natural and human intelligence across temporal scales? Read the original article
Digital
Blockchain-enabled satellites in low-Earth orbit represent more than technological innovation—they signal infrastructure's escape from terrestrial governance boundaries and traditional ownership models. Read the original article
New Right thinking from the early 1980s shaped infrastructure in ways that have led to a potpourri of models. Private sector involvement in infrastructure the world over today has been heavily influenced by the post-privatisation era in Britain from the 1980s. Previous posts have talked about what infrastructure is and
Post World War 2 saw a marked change in infrastructure provision in Britain. State led infrastructure became the standard across the Commonwealth until neo-liberalism took hold in the Reagan-Thatcher era. Dergulation, corporatisation and privatisation became central themes in the latter part of the century, with the private sector playing an
The Roman Empire is often seen as having made a pivotal contribution to society. This blog explores infrastructure from Roman times through to the beginning of the 20th century. This might help shed light on why some things are the way they are today. The Romans are widely attributed to
We all think we know what infrastructure until we are asked for a concise definition. This blog aims to shed some light on one way of defining infrastructure. "You and I come by road or rail, but economists travel by infrastructure". So said Margaret Thatcher, and we hear
Civilisational futures, through an infrastructure lens
As nations race to build sovereign space capabilities, are we replicating terrestrial conflicts in humanity's shared cosmic commons? Read the original article
How might AI-accelerated materials discovery disrupt the century-long material cycles that lock infrastructure into extractive patterns? Read the original article
Examining how Norway's massive sovereign wealth fund constructs temporal futures through investment decisions that fundamentally determine global infrastructure development patterns over generational timescales. Read the original article
The competition isn't just about rockets—it's about whose values and governance frameworks will be embedded in the infrastructure systems that future generations inherit in space. Read the original article
New satellite mapping of 109 Chinese cities reveals how infrastructure services cluster spatially, creating persistent inequities that shape intergenerational urban outcomes Read the original article
Study challenges traditional flood infrastructure planning by examining dikes as complex systems with multi-generational impacts on both human communities and natural ecosystems. Read the original article
Academic climate resilience papers multiply while infrastructure systems continue to fail during extreme weather events. Are we studying our way out of actually building resilient systems? Read the original article
Digital infrastructure has no neutral setting—every network designed for convenience becomes a tool for control. The question isn't whether surveillance will happen, but who controls it and for what purpose. Read the original article
Orbiting solar arrays could deliver 24/7 clean energy without weather disruption or seasonal variation - but at what cost to the massive terrestrial renewable infrastructure investments we're making today? Read the original article
Green hydrogen needs massive water supplies, but semi-arid regions pursuing clean energy face a brutal choice: feed the hydrogen economy or preserve scarce water for human needs over the next 50 years. Read the original article
Whether you're planning a major infrastructure project, developing a long-term strategy, or seeking specialised training, I'd be pleased to explore how I can help.