IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v2y2019i4d10.1038_s41893-019-0256-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Infrastructure for sustainable development

Author

Listed:
  • Scott Thacker

    (United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
    University of Oxford)

  • Daniel Adshead

    (University of Oxford)

  • Marianne Fay

    (World Bank)

  • Stéphane Hallegatte

    (World Bank)

  • Mark Harvey

    (Department for International Development (DFID))

  • Hendrik Meller

    (German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ))

  • Nicholas O’Regan

    (United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS))

  • Julie Rozenberg

    (World Bank)

  • Graham Watkins

    (Inter-American Development Bank (IADB))

  • Jim W. Hall

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

Infrastructure systems form the backbone of every society, providing essential services that include energy, water, waste management, transport and telecommunications. Infrastructure can also create harmful social and environmental impacts, increase vulnerability to natural disasters and leave an unsustainable burden of debt. Investment in infrastructure is at an all-time high globally, thus an ever-increasing number of decisions are being made now that will lock-in patterns of development for future generations. Although for the most part these investments are motivated by the desire to increase economic productivity and employment, we find that infrastructure either directly or indirectly influences the attainment of all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 72% of the targets. We categorize the positive and negative effects of infrastructure and the interdependencies between infrastructure sectors. To ensure that the right infrastructure is built, policymakers need to establish long-term visions for sustainable national infrastructure systems, informed by the SDGs, and develop adaptable plans that can demonstrably deliver their vision.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Thacker & Daniel Adshead & Marianne Fay & Stéphane Hallegatte & Mark Harvey & Hendrik Meller & Nicholas O’Regan & Julie Rozenberg & Graham Watkins & Jim W. Hall, 2019. "Infrastructure for sustainable development," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 324-331, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:2:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1038_s41893-019-0256-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-019-0256-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0256-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-019-0256-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:2:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1038_s41893-019-0256-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.