FOR A “FAIR” APPROACH TO INFRASTRUCTURE SUSTAINABILITY
introduction
Alfredo Martini
“Infrastructures and mobility systems play a key role in the sustainable transformation of the socio-economic system, as they stand as a decisive element in a country’s development and are directly connected to people’s, enterprises’ and public administrations’ daily choices”. Nowadays, everyone has clear in mind the role of infrastructures in a country’s development. However, it must still be fully accepted that these strategic works must be “conceived”, planned, designed, realized and managed “under the sign of sustainability”. The affirmation “we will either be sustainable or no longer be”, which we have chosen as a payoff, just like AIS (Sustainable Infrastructure Association), sends a clear message about the need to change our way of looking at the world, tangibly acting on the present. This also applies to our “fixed capital”. It is a relevant yet insufficient heritage whose adaptation to the country’s economic and social needs requires significant resources. From now to 2040 – according to G20’s Global Infrastructure Outlook – we lack at least 373 billion euros of investments to fulfill the country’s real needs. This equals over 18 billion per year. The MIMS report on Climate change, infrastructures and mobility shows that Italy’s infrastructural equipment is quantitively lower than the main European countries with comparable territorial size, especially concerning highways and railways.
