Abstract
In Infrastructural Ecologies: Alternative Development Models for Emerging Economies, Hillary Brown and Byron Stigge take their readers through case studies of creative provision of systems-based infrastructure in rapidly developing and urbanizing areas. The book starts with a cautionary tale about the development of an industrial park in Caracol, Haiti. The project began with international development aid and good intentions but, through a fragmented process, ended with compromising the environmental integrity of the river that empties into Caracol Bay, potentially “decimat[ing] the fish nurseries on which local residents depend to supplement their subsistence-level farming” (p. 3). Brown and Stigge propose that infrastructural ecologies, a twist on the field of industrial ecology, offers an alternative planning and development approach for major infrastructure projects. The authors state that “the vision of infrastructural ecology is based on the simple insight that the critical systems that serve settlements are analogous to the ecological systems that support nature’s flora and fauna” (p. 5), and this perspective provides a more holistic and symbiotic approach to the provision of energy, water, sanitation, and transportation. The authors propose a set of criteria for alternative infrastructure development based on five main objectives: to (1) take a holistic, systems-based approach with multidisciplinary actors and stakeholders; (2) align projects with natural processes and integration with existing systems; (3) embrace low-carbon processes; (4) design for resilience in the face of climate change; and (5) meaningfully engage communities in co-development. Chapter 1 introduces core concepts, chapters 2 through 6 focus on each of the five objectives, and chapters 7 and 8 discuss implementation, both for projects and the conceptual framework. The authors use case studies throughout to provide examples of infrastructural ecologies that have made positive differences in peoples’ lives and the environment. Though these five objectives are equally relevant in developed countries, the authors appropriately argue that the infrastructure gap is critically large in emerging economies, and thus the case studies focus within these areas.
Chapter 2, titled “Solving for Pattern,” is the most conceptually important chapter of the book. Brown and Stigge sweep through a number of case studies of symbiotic development opportunities that address the first objective; however, perhaps in this chapter the case studies are too short to be called “cases” but rather a set of examples. They range from a 1 megawatt solar photovoltaic array floating within the Narmada Branch Canal as part of a project to bring down the cost of renewable energy in India; to using children’s seesaws to enable water pumping in Las Gaviotas, Bogota; to using the Coca-Cola supply chain to send life-saving medicines to remote communities in rural Zambia. The examples celebrate the major theme of engaging deeply in a systems-based approach to face the challenges of infrastructure in emerging economies. They also set a tone for the deep need for innovation—not ones that create whole new systems but rather breakthroughs that leverage existing systems for whole new solutions.
While I enjoyed reading and learning about some of these creative solutions, I also struggled with concepts of scale and replicability. I found myself asking questions like, At what scale could this happen? What impact did it have on the aggregate for the community—or broader environmental outcomes like greenhouse gas emissions? and Could it be done elsewhere, or is it too narrow a circumstance? As an appendix, the authors have provided an easy checklist summary of the case studies and their relationship to the five objectives. They add additional criteria for the project providing cobenefits. Most of the examples in chapter 2 to some extent meet the five objectives, but they all are noted to have cobenefits much beyond the infrastructural development in and of itself. Though I did not find answers to my questions, what is important is that the reading prompted further inquiry.
Given my own interest area, I was particularly attentive to the third objective within chapter 4, “Post-carbon Infrastructure: Power, Heat and Transport.” The authors start by reiterating the premise that “the level and quality of infrastructure services in emerging economies can and should be increased” (p. 79), meaning that energy conservation is not an inherent goal in this context but that rather emphasis should be dually placed on efficient design and embracing renewable sources of energy. Again, the authors provide a number of examples where communities have managed to harness infrastructure projects that synergistically leverage existing resources. A particularly interesting example is the iShack, a 40-square-meter dwelling with 25 watts of solar photovoltaic panels, including flooring from locally sourced bricks that cost about $660 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The authors go on to provide examples of rural electrification through microhydro in Nepal, coupling wind and pumped storage hydro in the Canary Islands, solar hot water heaters in Brazil, and biogas in Nigeria. Many of these examples demonstrate “ecological alignment” and showcase the opportunities to both improve lives and reduce carbon, allowing for developing areas to leapfrog fossil fuel dependency in their growth trajectory. Other than a mention in regard to a biomethane project from a landfill in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, saying that it is replicable because it has proven profitable for medium- to large-scale landfill sites, there is again little mention of scalability.
The fifth objective discussed in chapter 6, “Infrastructural Co-production,” defines coproduction (or co-development) in reference to Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation: community-driven infrastructure development. The authors go so far as to reference the Inca’s process of rope-bridge-building through civic ceremony. While this seemed a stretch from the premise of providing increased infrastructure in rapidly developing and urbanizing economies, it did set the tone for what it means for projects truly to be community based. This chapter provides examples of how infrastructure projects can better engage with community, from working with community-proposed translators to increasing community capacity through training programs. It also discusses projects that engage in a “social management plan” that address cultural relations and maximizing cobenefits in, for example, improving health outcomes. Overall, the authors build off of the well-evidenced planning premise that engagement upfront leads to improved and more durable outcomes for the project and community.
Infrastructural Ecologies is a great book for use in an infrastructure planning course or even in an environmental planning in developing countries course more broadly. The case studies provided throughout the chapters catalyze inquiry and will prompt lively classroom conversations. The chapter summaries in the appendix also make for ease of use and referencing by students. For an infrastructure planning course, instructors would likely have to supplement the materials in this book with additional readings on infrastructure and public finance, as this is largely skipped over within the book. Though chapter 7 focuses on “Implementing Infrastructural Ecologies,” I found this to be quite broad sweeping—like the need to “overcome government silos.” There is brief mention of international funding sources, like the Clean Development Mechanism. Nevertheless, the information presented is probably the right level for an undergraduate course. A graduate-level course could use the book as a starting point. What the book accomplishes really well is prompting big ideas and systems thinking. It is well worth the read, and instructors can easily use this text as a foundational building block to pique student interest and establish baseline knowledge in creative infrastructure delivery.