The Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young recently released Infrastructure 2011: A Strategic Priority, the fifth in a series of annual reports, which examines infrastructure policy and investment strategies in the current competitive global marketplace.
This report indicates that as countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Australia, India, and China, have set infrastructure repair and development as high priorities for investments and strategy, most have found that they are simultaneously facing funding shortfalls.
This report cites significant infrastructure repair and rebuilding challenges facing the nation. Cautioning that infrastructure investments in the U.S. will be further stifled this year by pressures to cut federal spending and reduce the deficit, it advises that cities will need to be evermore creative and resourceful in securing partnerships to start or continue infrastructure projects.
The recommendations in Infrastructure 2011 include:
- greatly expanding public-private partnerships;
- focusing attention first on critical repairs and upgrades;
- developing a national infrastructure strategy, including funding merit-based projects that support the country’s overall economic priorities;
- concentrating spending on the nation’s metropolitan areas and global gateways;
- providing greater long-term certainty for federal funding to support planning for capital projects;
- instituting federal and state infrastructure banks to support project financing; and
- phasing in user fees to help fund infrastructure initiatives on a continuing basis.
To access the complete report, please visit:
Urban Land Institute: Infrastructure 2011: A Strategic Priority
Background information:
American Society of Civil Engineers
ASCE: Guiding Principles for the Nation's Critical Infrastructure (2009)
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