Synergy in the city: making the sum of the parts more than the whole

Abstract

The pressures on existing infrastructures are significant: demand is beginning to outstrip supply; aging infrastructure poorly maintained presents an increasing risk; and rejection of urban sprawl forces increasing population density. At the same time, the drivers for infrastructure are changing. We are beginning to recognise ecological limits to supply, leading to shifting expectations, for example, from 'remove waste' to 'recapture nutrients'. We now know that a sustainable future requires step changes in material use intensity, which has further infrastructure implications. We have witnessed it already in communications. For water and energy, and therefore, for transport also, the step changes are on the horizon. Community expectations are moving too, for example, from separating home and work towards co-locating them.