Infrastructure for the Future

It's true that we tend to take infrastructure for granted. It's also true that a lot of western infrastructure is old and undermaintained (probably a result of utilities privatisations). So we actually do need to do what Alex Steffen suggests in this article: WorldChanging: Infrastructure for the Future We Want. "As we undertake their repair and replacement, we ought to be thinking like people native to the 21st century. We ought to be imagining systems which aim to provide the end services we want (access, communications, food, water, sanitation) in the most efficient, flexible and sustainable ways possible." He then mentions some specific areas. We should be paying attention.