A Presentation on infrastructure development, globalization, impact of infrastructure development, sustainable development in infrastructure and some case studies

1. SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT OF
INFRASTRUCTURE
NITTTR
EZHIL THALAPATHI R T

2. SYLLABUS
✘ Information Technology and Systems for Successful
Infrastructure Management,
✘ Innovative Design and Maintenance of Infrastructure
Facilities,
✘ Infrastructure Modeling and Life Cycle Analysis
Techniques,
✘ Capacity Building and Improving the Governments Role
in Infrastructure Implementation,
✘ An Integrated Framework for Successful Infrastructure
Planning and Management –
✘ Infrastructure Management Systems and Future
Directions.
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3. What Is infrastructure?
✘ Infrastructure consists of basic systems and facilities,
which include transportation, buildings,
communication systems, water supply, power supply,
etc.
✘ Infrastructure development is essential to facilitate a
country’s economic development and reduce poverty.
✘ well‐designed infrastructure can facilitate a country’s
economic development and can reduce the cost of
trade, it’s the key to raising the living standard of the
people and reducing poverty
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4. Insight of the infrastructure sector in India
✘ Any country having a robust infrastructure will be a strong
economically, socially and politicallydeveloped country.
✘ It is far easier for such a nation to build up any superstructure like
dams, high-quality bridges etc.
✘ If we go through the development history of all developed countries
it tellsus that unless a country is having sound infrastructure
sectors, it cannot achieve rapid economic development.
✘ To understand these let us compare the per capita income of China
and India, for the year 1980, where China had around 195$ and that of
India it was 260$.
✘ China has been able to increase its economy as well as per capita
income by putting its effort in developing its infrastructure such as
roads, good quality highways, ports etc.
✘ Today, China is a manufacturing and engineering hub of the world,
which helped in raising its per capita income to 10,000$, which is far
more than India’s per capita income i.e. 2100$.
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5. Insight of the infrastructure sector in India
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6. List of Sector and Sub Sector of
Infrastructure Project
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7. List of Sector and Sub Sector of
Infrastructure Project
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8. List of Sector and Sub Sector of
Infrastructure Project
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9. WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?
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✘ “The processes of collaboration and coordination among
the people, organization, and governments of various
countries, a method determined by universal trade and
investment and supported by information technology”
✘ In recent years, globalization has led to an increase in
domestic and international infrastructure development
and connectivity at an unprecedented rate.

10. GLOBALIZATION
✘ Globalization has made the development of transport and
communication feasible.
✘ This means that the world is becoming more and more
interconnected, and people and countries can exchange
information, goods, knowledge and services with ease.
✘ Nowadays, data and information are promptly conveyed
and universally available, making geographical vicinity less
important in the success of any infrastructure project.
✘ With globalization, the way people think about
infrastructure and decision making related to
infrastructure has also undergone various changes.
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11. CASE STUDIES
✘ China has invested a huge amount in infrastructure
since 1990, particularly in road infrastructure.
✘ Li (2010), in his report, cited the example of
Lanzhou‐Xinjiang railroad.
✘ He reported that, within 3 years of completion of this
road, trade volume was observed to increase by 40%,
and trade cost was reduced by 30%, indicating a net
social return to society of roughly 30% per year.
✘ Thus, it can be seen that well‐designed infrastructure
can facilitate a country’s economic development and
can reduce the cost of trade: it’s the key to raising the
living standard of the people and reducing poverty
(Ali and Pernia 2003).
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12. Lanzhou‐Xinjiang railroad.
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13. However, infrastructure development often comes at
the cost of the local environment.
These are well documented in energy construction
work, transportation, sanitation, irrigation works,
etc. as explained in the following sections.

14. Energy Sector
✘ The local environment generally is subjected to risks from
construction and operation of infrastructure that would result in
environmental damage if not mitigated or remunerated effectively.
✘ This is well acknowledged especially in operations that involve power
plants.
✘ The crop yield was reported to decline by 5–30% for around 70% of all
crops in China due to acid rains and other consequences resulting
from coal combustion (Chameides et al. 1999).
✘ A similar observation was reported in India, where in areas located
near large power plants, there was a ~50% reduction in crop yield
(Shalizi 2007).
✘ Particulates and smog coming out of large power plants and from
traffic are thought to cause around 427000 and 107000 annual deaths
in China and India, respectively (Shilling 2007).

15. ✘ https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Environm
ental_impact_of_the_energy_industry
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16. Transportation Work
✘ Similarly, with road construction, despite the widely
accepted fact that road construction will promote both
economic and social benefits (Amadi 1988), it can likewise
add to environmental damage.
✘ For instance, it can cause an increase in immigration and
increase in harvesting of environmental resources needed
for urban market supply.
✘ These can lead to deforestation, increases in landslides,
extraction of fuelwood and extinction of wildlife (Forman
and Alexander 1998).
✘ Road construction can also directly impact the
environment, e.g. erosion and sedimentation caused by the
unpaved roads (Amos 2008).
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17. Transportation Work
✘ https://www.roadex.org/e-
learning/lessons/environmental-considerations-
for-low-volume-roads/environmental-issues-
related-to-road-management/
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18. Irrigation Work
✘ Irrigation infrastructure, such as in the case of road construction or
the energy sector, can be both advantageous and harmful.
✘ Irrigation infrastructure helps to store and transport water, thus
helping farmers to reduce their dependencies on rain, allowing a
greater intensity of cultivation on their existing land.
✘ However, it can also lead to excessive water usage, salinization of
groundwater, land degradation and can even lead to downstream
pollution (due to use of pesticides etc.).
✘ In its report the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005a)
claimed that irrigation has already consumed around 20–30% of the
world’s available fresh water.
✘ A study carried out by the United Nations Environment Programme
(Morris et al. 2003) reported that almost 50% of the world’s irrigated
land is affected by salinity, alkalinity and waterlogging
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19. Irrigation Work
✘ https://www.fao.org/3/v8350e/v8350e09.htm
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20. Sanitation Work
✘ In contrast, construction of sanitation structures presents an
example of infrastructure that is good for public health and the
environment.
✘ The United Nations Task Force in its report (Lenton 2005)
stresses the importance of improved sanitation infrastructure,
points out its benefits related to health, poverty and the
environment, and recommends steps to promote this
infrastructure.
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21. The impact of infrastructure
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22. The impact of infrastructure
✘ The impact of infrastructure on the environment is more pronounced
in developing countries.
✘ Development of infrastructure without proper planning leads to
environmental and infrastructure problems (Shilling 2007).
✘ Improper planning and construction of roads leads to erosion,
preventing access to waste collection and firefighting.
✘ Lack of electricity will lead to the cutting down of more trees to be used
for cooking and heating purposes; lack of sanitation and good drinking
water supply will lead to diseases (Shilling 2007).
✘ The United Nations Environment Programme in its reports claims that
environmental damage because of lack of sustainable infrastructure
has increased and will pose a great threat to developing countries in
particular, and may undermine their potential for sustainable growth
(Lenton 2005).
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23. Global Warming and Climate Change
in a Globalized World
✘ Climate change due to global warming is the biggest environmental
problem faced by mankind living in the age of globalization.
✘ With the increase in the globalization of goods and services, we are
also observing more fossil fuels being exchanged to sustain this
production, leading to more carbon emissions, which is the main
cause of global warming.
✘ Greenhouse gases, which were identified as the major cause of global
warming, have now reached the highest levels ever recorded in
history.
✘ Climate change is now influencing every nation on the planet. It
already has a considerable impact on the ecosystem, life of
infrastructure, national economies and lives of communities
(Pachauri and Reisinger 2007).
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24. Global Warming and Climate Change in a Globalized World
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25. Global Warming and Climate Change
in a Globalized World
✘ Climate change will affect all kinds of infrastructure, including the
water, energy and transport sectors.
✘ If no actions are taken, these greenhouse gases will further increase
in the atmosphere and will threaten the efficiency and reliability of all
kinds of infrastructure (IPCC 2014), with the consequences of social
and economic impacts.
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26. SOLUTION?
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27. Sustainable development
“development that
addresses the
requirements of the
present generations
without compromising the
ability of the future
generations to meet their
own needs”
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28. Sustainable development
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29. Sustainable development
✘ Sustainable development is the need of the hour in
our effort to slow down climate change.
✘ Sustainable development does not necessarily mean
that a nation should stop economic growth for the
sake of protecting the environment; however, it
aims at promoting economic development that is
ecofriendly.
✘ Dealing with climate change alone could be very
expensive; therefore, integrating development
policies as part of the solution can be one of the
ways to slow down climate change
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30. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change
✘ Over the past few decades, efforts and investment have
been made to lessen the amount of CO2 emissions from the
infrastructure sector.
✘ Yet, in spite of these endeavors, scientific reports show that
the current CO2 emissions generated from the existing
infrastructure are still responsible for significant climate
change (Pachauri and Reisinger 2007).
✘ Most of the existing infrastructure, comprising buildings,
water, roads and energy, is not designed to endure changes
in environmental conditions (IPCC 2014).
✘ Over these past few years, unpredictable changes in
weather conditions have been observed to cause some
challenges to the current infrastructure.
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31. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change
✘ The literature has reported that extreme weather
conditions such as snowfall have resulted in travel
disturbances, slower speeds, travel delays and accidents
(Knapp and Smithson 2000; Datla and Sharma 2010).
✘ Changes in precipitation and runoff have influenced the
water supply and water quality (Frederick and Major 1997);
various infrastructure assets and services have been
affected by extreme climate, making them vulnerable to
floods and drought (Adger 1999).
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32. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change
✘ In the coming 30–50 years, more climatic changes are
expected to occur (Pachauri and Reisinger 2007). We might
further experience drastic changes in temperature, rainfall
patterns and more frequent extreme events like drought
and freezing winters.
✘ Hence, we need to act today. We need to plan and decide
what necessary steps are to be taken to ensure that our
infrastructure is sustainable and resilient enough to meet
any unpredictable challenges in the future.
✘ Planners, designers and engineers must plan and design
sustainable infrastructure that integrates decarbonization
as well as being adaptive against various extreme climates.
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33. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change
✘ Moreover, most infrastructure will have a considerable
lifespan; therefore it will be subjected not only to adverse
climate condition at the time of construction but also to
unpredictable climate variations in the future.
✘ Therefore, in order to enhance the sustainability and
resilience of the structures, they should be designed in such
a way they can withstand any extreme climate changes
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34. Building Climate‐Resilient Infrastructure
✘ Newly built infrastructure can become climate
resilient by guaranteeing that the structure is
situated, designed, constructed and used keeping
both current and future climates in mind.
✘ Existing infrastructure can be made climate
resilient by making sure that maintenance factors in
integrated resilience to the effects of climate change
over the structure’s lifespan.
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35. Building Climate‐Resilient Infrastructure
✘ To accomplish this, promising adaptation actions consist of
1. Checking and verifying that the infrastructures are resilient enough
for the likely increase in extreme weather events such as heat
waves, floods, drought, storms, etc.
2. Building flexibility into infrastructure so that, in the future, it can be
modified without excessive cost.
3. Ensuring that companies/administration and the professionals who
built and implemented the infrastructure have the proper skills and
capacity to carry out the work.
✘ If these actions are implemented, we will have a more resilient and
robust infrastructure that can cope with the projected changing
climate.
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36. Case Example
How One Japanese Village Was Able to Resist the 2011 Tsunami
by Building Climate‐ResilientInfrastructure?
 Background.
 In 1933, an earthquake known by the name “Sanriku” hit the
coast of Japan.
 In spite of the fact that the earthquake did little damage, a
gigantic tsunami followed this earthquake with waves
recorded up to a height of 28.7m.
 This tsunami destroyed over 7000 homes and many human
lives were taken (1522 citizens were killed and 12053 were
injured).
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37. Case Example
Solution:
✘ In 1967, the mayor (the highest‐ranking official) of Fudai planned to
construct a concrete seawall of about 15.5m so as to prevent a similar
disaster in the future.
✘ The mayor also planned to construct concrete floodgates as tall as the
seawall in locations where the majority of the people resided.
✘ In the beginning, the village people were against his ideas; however,
eventually he persuaded them.
✘ So, in 1967 the seawall was constructed and in 1972, 52 concrete floodgates
were also constructed.
Results:
✘ On March 11, 2011, a huge earthquake followed by a tsunami hit Japan.
✘ The national police agency of Japan reported that this natural disaster took
lots of lives (15884 lost their lives, 6147 were critically wounded and 2636
people went missing), and many buildings and structures collapsed.
✘ However, in Fudai, despite the wavesreaching up to a height of 20.1m, the
village remainedsafe and untouched, thanksto the concrete seawall built
in 1967.
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38. Building Climate‐Resilient Infrastructure
✘ Thus, with the likely frequent occurrence of various
extreme weather events, decision makers in both the public
and private sectors should carry out a test for climate
resilience at each stage of their decision making to evaluate
whether they consider new or retrofitted infrastructure
projects.
✘ Introducing climate resilience to the life cycle of any
infrastructure project should become the mainstay of the
future.
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