Infrastructure, Governance and the People*

Infrastructure in a sense primarily comprises physical components. As such it should essentially concern “architects, engineers, investors, and political representatives”, eliciting interest among citizens only if a project directly effects them either adversely or advantageously and perhaps if a project is conspicuous and considered news worthy. However, there is an equally significant story behind the apparent/obvious that awaits narration: the nature of the investment process; the contributing and consequential “political, socio-economic, institututional, technical” as well as “environmental” factors and their interplay. In other words, the administration or governance of infrastructure comprises an important area of study/analysis.

Providing infrastructure is a crucial activity for any government.  Appropriate designing and execution of infrastructures, like “roadways, railways, energy networks, water systems and communication lines” facilitates the delivery of essential public commodities as connectivity is enhanced. As a result it also accelerates overall production and economic development. However, establishing good infrastructure within the estimated period of time and in the process avoiding rescheduling, mounting expenses and inferior quality is a challenging task. In contemporary times the situation has become even more convoluted because of the cumulative impact of ever-increasing aspirations as well as expertise, complicated tools and an often fluctuating /unpredictable political and social environment.

Administering infrastructure in present times implies the establishment of an intricate network of infrastructure dependent on innovative and at times unproven equipment and knowledge. Financial constrictions and the complicated as well as intricate character of modern day infrastructure prompts private sector participation, which in turn comes with both multiple openings as well as liabilities that require governmental control.  In a changed and increasingly more expectant, data driven economy and target oriented policy making environment, the time span for execution of projects is not unlimited.  Infrastructure, which in the past had very little relevance for mainstream politics, has become politicised. This has at times manifested itself rather unexpectedly, in persistent confrontations against various projects.

In short, the enterprise of “public physical infrastructure” that is imperative both in the economic and social perspective is confronted with a contradictory set of circumstances.  The states have increasingly become more dependent on private agencies, yet they are as vital for infrastructure as infrastructure is for their survival. Bereft of the monetary, supervisory, and harmonizing role of governments, investment in infrastructure would in all probability not materialize. As such, despite their presence not being palpable, governments are in fact grappling with the process of governing infrastructure and governing it amicably as well as appropriately. The issues in contention encompass the proverbial escalating costs, delays and “corrupt practices” such as the use of inferior quality products often culminating in mishaps. This though more prevalent in developing societies is not completely absent in developed ones. The situation is rather far removed from one that displays cost-effective employment of innately restricted assets. Governing infrastructure has evolved into a multifaceted, problematic and ambitious activity.

Globally, urbanization has been rapid and extensive. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. It is estimated that 55 per cent of the world’s population dwells in urban expanses, a fraction that is expected to rise to 66 per cent by 2050. (UN approximations)  This in turn has given rise to thickly populated megacities. The concomitants of urbanization are an upsurge in the demand for improved infrastructures along with better governance of infrastructures. With the numerical rise of the middle class and the propertied; growth of the service sector, rising educational qualifications as well as advances in environmental technology, the articulation for infrastructural development has acquired new dimensions. Consequently, varied forms of infrastructures and their development find space in the study of infrastructures, be it development infrastructures, urban infrastructures, energy infrastructures, environmental infrastructures and digital infrastructures.

Infrastructures have in fact developed into definite and persuasive sites for social science research. As the contest for infrastructural investment acquires an almost frantic dimension and as global leaders strive for the most effectual methods to facilitate the flow of energy, goods and money, concurrently, vast numbers of people are being excluded by “trade corridors, securitized production sites and privatized service provisions.” They then attempt to create their own opportunities that overlap, dislocate or else involve the exhaustive investments that habitually reconstruct their worlds. Under these circumstances, the constant then is an intersection of the projects of the influential and the arrangements of the marginalized in the present-day enterprise to control the future.

Priya

2/10/2018

*The write-up was influenced by the RLS-CRG organized international conference on Infrastructure across Frontiers: Logistic, Governance and Society (September 2-3, 2018).

References

Harvey Penny, Casper Bruun Jension and Atsura Morita (Eds), Infrastructures and Social Complexity: A Companion, London and New York: Routledge, 2017.

Sridhar, Kala Seetharam & Guanghua Wan (Eds), Urbanization in Asia: Governance, Infrastructure and the Environment, Springer India, 2014.

Wegrich Kai, Genia Kostka & Gerhard Hammerschmid (Eds),The Governance of Infrastructure, Oxford: OUP, 2017.