National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1988. Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1093.
×
Page R10

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Series on Technology and Social Priorities NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING ~- r ~ - . . ~rat 11H Jesse H. Ausube! and Robert Herman Editors NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1988

National Academy Press ~ 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW ~ Washington, DC 20418 NOTICE: The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievement of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering. Funds for the National Academy of Engineering's Symposium Series on Technology and Social Priorities were provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Academy's Technology Agenda Program. This publication has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Com- mittee. The views expressed in this volume are those of the authors and are not presented as the views of the Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, or the National Academy of Engineering. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cities and their vital systems. (Series on technology and social priorities) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Cities and towns United States Growth Congresses. 2. Infrastructure (Economics) United States Congresses. 3. United States Public works Congresses. I. Ausubel, Jesse. II. Herman. Robert. III. National Academy of Engineering. IV. Series. HT371.C585 1988 363'.0973 88-12517 ISBN 0-309-03786-7 Copyright ~3 1988 by the National Academy of Sciences No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the United States Government. Printed in the United States of America

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY Chairman ROBERT M. WHITE, President, National Academy of Engineering Members RUTHERFORD Ares, Regents' Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota DAVID P. BILEINGTON, Professor of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University HARVEY BROOKS, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy, Emeritus, Harvard University HARLAN CLEVELAND, Professor of Public Affairs and Planning, University of Minnesota DoNA~D N. FREY, Chairman and CEO, Bell & Howell Company JOHN H. GissoNs, Director, Office of Technology Assessment, U.S. Congress MARY L. GOOD, President, Engineered Materials Research, Allied-Signal Inc. HENRY R. LINDEN, Executive Advisor, Gas Research Institute JAMES BRIAN Quinn, William and Josephine Buchanan Professor of Management, Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College FREDERICK C. RossiNs, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University WALTER G. V~NcENT~, Professor Emeritus of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University Alvin M. WEINBERG, Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge Associated Universities . . .

Preface Infrastructure is the term applied to large-scale engineering systems and includes a variety of public works, such as roads, bridges, and sewer systems, as well as privately managed utilities such as electric power and telephone service. Much publicity has been given infrastructure in recent years as news of collapsing bridges and crowded airports makes evident our dependence on infrastructure. Recent studies have considered the urgent problems of financing and maintaining current public works. However, what of major long-range perspectives on infrastructure needs and development? To address these issues, the National Academy of Engineering conducted a workshop en- titled "The Evolution of Future Infrastructures" in Woods Hole, Mas- sachusetts, in August 1986. Focusing primarily on problems inherent in urban areas, the workshop aimed to strengthen and focus research on infrastructure; to raise critical infrastructure issues for society, industry, and government; and to describe better for people the new sociotechnical systems that may grow around and for them. It also attempted to identify technological possibilities for the next 30-50 years in systems such as transportation, communication, water, and energy. The discussions at the workshop having persuaded us that a volume on infrastructures would be useful, we continued with the project, focusing on this book. We deliberately adopted an expansive definition of infra- structure. While the emphasis in the book is on the great networks and nodes that immediately come to mind in such areas as power supply and transportation, we also seek to understand other aspects of our built en

PREFACE vironment that are lasting and, more generally, what it is that physically makes up or characterizes a city. We emphasize the technology, history, and theory of infrastructure. The very important issues of politics and finance are alluded to, but to be covered adequately, would require a separate volume of equal size. Art and design considerations similarly merit in-depth consideration beyond what is possible in this single volume. I would like to thank Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their funding of this activity. The Evolution of Future Infrastructures Workshop was the sixth in a series of events conducted under grants given the NAE to pursue studies of importance to technology and society. Certainly no subject is more fundamental to society or more affected by technology than our major infrastructural systems. I believe that this volume has far-reaching implications and want to express my sincere thanks to the participants in the workshop for their creative contributions and to the authors who persevered through a lengthy process of revision and review. I would also like to note insightful con- tributions by Alfred Blumstein, Leonard Duhl, John Eberhard, Denos Gazis, and Richard Rothery, whose comments I hope are captured in the introductory essay. David Billington and Thomas Larson provided valu- able responses to the draft essays. Special thanks are due Robert Herman, chairman of the workshop, for his imagination and enthusiasm, and Jesse H. Ausubel, director of the NAE Program Office, for the planning and execution of this activity, including a remarkable adventure across Vine- yard Sound that revealed a resilient local transport infrastructure, and to both of them for their excellent editing of the volume. I also want to express my gratitude to the Advisory Committee on Technology and So- ciety (p. iii) for its oversight, to Penelope J. Gibbs for administration of the activity, and to NAE editor H. Dale Langford and Caroline G. An- derson, administrative secretary with the NAE Program Office, for their work in preparing the manuscript for publication. ROBERT M. WHITE President National Academy of Engineering

Contents Cities and Infrastructure: Synthesis and Perspectives Robert Herman and Jesse H. Ausube! 2 The Dynamic Characterization of Cities Robert Herman, Siamak A. Ardekani, Shekhar Govinci, and Edgar Dona 3 How Cities Grew in the Western World: A Systems Approach ..................................... Lynn Hollen Lees and Paul M. Hohenberg 4 Urban Systems and Historical Path Dependence W. Brian Arthur 5 An Economic Mode! of Urban Growth Martin ]. Beckmann 6 Growth of U.S. Cities and Recent Trends in Urban Real Estate Values .................... John S. Adams 7 Infrastructures for Movement: Past and Future Cesare Marchetti 8 Dynamics and Replacement of U.S. Transport Infrastructures ........................................ Nebojsa Nakicenovic ......... 7 ...... 85 .......................... 98 , ............ ...... 108 ................. 146 ..... 175

l 9 Air Traffic Congestion: Problems and Prospects Thomas Craig 10 Combining Communications and Computing: CONTENTS .............. 222 Telematics Infrastructures 233 Dean Gillette 11 Reflections on the Telecommunications Infrastructure Harvey Brooks 12 Water Supply and Distribution: The Next 50 Years Royce Hanson 13 The Urban Wastewater Infrastructure Bernard B. Berger 14 New Construction Technologies for Rebuilding the Nation's Infrastructure ................................. C. William Ibbs and Diego Echeverry 15 Longevity of Infrastructure Gregg Mariandt and Alvin M. Weinberg Contributors .......................................................... Index ........ ........ 249 .......... 258 .278 ................. 294 ................ 312 333 .. 339

~ ITIES

Next: 1 Cities and Infrastructure: Synthesis and Perspectives »
Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $95.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Cities and Their Vital Systems asks basic questions about the longevity, utility, and nature of urban infrastructures; analyzes how they grow, interact, and change; and asks how, when, and at what cost they should be replaced. Among the topics discussed are problems arising from increasing air travel and airport congestion; the adequacy of water supplies and waste treatment; the impact of new technologies on construction; urban real estate values; and the field of "telematics," the combination of computers and telecommunications that makes money machines and national newspapers possible.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!