Rethinking Infrastructure as the Fabric of a Changing Society

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, we explore the nature of infrastructure, how it is appreciated by society, how this appreciation has changed over the lifetime of the infrastructure, and how infrastructure development and performance are influenced by the governance structures in place. While the focus in this chapter is on energy infrastructure, ample illustrative material is also provided from other infrastructure sectors. We examine the trends towards technological and administrative decentralisation and towards digitalisation of infrastructure (service) provision. These trends enable formerly passive consumers to adopt new roles as providers of energy, data and transport services, and result in strongly increasing cross-sector interdependencies, especially between energy, transport and digital infrastructure. These interdependencies, however, are not reflected in the siloed governance structure of these domains, which hinders the energy transition. Furthermore, we diagnose a mismatch between, on the one hand, the focus of energy infrastructure governance on cost-effectiveness—with a view to low-cost service provision—and, on the other hand, the role of infrastructure in upholding and creating social value in terms of equity, fairness and social justice. Since the energy market liberalisation, the fundamental role of infrastructure as the fabric of society appears to be a blind spot in reflections on infrastructure and largely unexplored territory in current infrastructure policy and governance. If not remedied, this blind spot may exacerbate existing inequalities between energy consumers and create new divides in society, as is illustrated by current developments in the Netherlands with respect to sustainable heat provision. We advocate a richer value orientation in energy infrastructure governance and infrastructure governance at large, which goes beyond the current focus on efficiency and economic value, in recognition of changing societal values and priorities and, most of all, to fulfil the potential of infrastructure in creating an inclusive society.