In 20 years, people will live in different environments, move and communicate in different ways, and get their power from different energy sources. Climate pressures, shifting demographics, and changing consumer behaviours will fundamentally reshape the demands we place on our world for energy, transport, living spaces, and communications.
These megatrends have been identified as critical drivers of global change by organisation such as PwC, EY, Arup and WEF. They will increasingly converge in a more connected world, leaving their mark across industries, places and people. Governments and companies will work together to address multiple challenges collaboratively.
Underpinning the fabric of this new world, knitting it together, will be new classes of infrastructure. Much of the new infrastructure that will exist in 2040 is already being planned today.
Infrastructure moves at a different pace to tech disruption. We cannot relaunch a railway or a city every two years, as we can a smartphone. And strategies vary around the world from retrofitting and upgrading existing infrastructure in modern cities, to building new concepts from scratch. Visionary thinking, and long term investment, are needed at a global and local level. Much of the infrastructure that will exist in 2040 is already being planned today.
Over a series of expert interviews, we explore how global business, industry, innovators, and governments are planning, thinking and investing for the long term. We hope you find them useful.
"What is needed to make our infrastructures of the future a reality? By collating insights from key thought leaders across the infrastructure sector, we can start planning what skills and conditions are needed to enable safe design, manufacture construction, maintenance, operation, and performance. By developing and sharing our knowledge, we can take proactive steps to be ready for the challenges that lay ahead." - Jan Pryzdatek, Director of Technologies, Lloyd's Register Foundation