Category: Insights
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Looking beyond the ‘usual suspects’ to hear diverse views on infrastructure
“Pale, male and stale” is a phrase attached to many industries – but few more so than those in the infrastructure sector. The challenge for leaders in the field is clearly to encourage people from more diverse backgrounds to join these professions, but also to ensure these voices are heard far more frequently. To that...
Going electric: rolling out an EV charging network
After 100 years of incremental change, in the coming decades we will witness a revolution on our roads. With more and more drivers going electric, the reign of the internal combustion engine will slowly but surely be committed to history. Once the preserve of only the most environmentally conscious, now EVs are going mainstream. While...
The Resources and Waste Strategy: Far enough? Fast enough?
The Government’s recent Resources and Waste Strategy is a welcome addition to the sector. It is comprehensive in its scope, covering everything from coffee cups to waste crime, and ambitious in both the range and detail of its proposals. We particularly welcome the strategy since it takes on board all of the recommendations on tackling waste...
Tackling congestion and carbon while delivering for customers
More and more of us will have Christmas delivered this year. Rather than the high street, we are increasingly turning to our computers, and opting for the convenience of having our purchases brought to our doorsteps. However, this isn’t just an activity restricted to the festive period: as consumers we are becoming ever-more used to the...
Giving city leaders the tools to create vibrant, thriving communities
With cities in every region growing in popularity, we are living through a dynamic era for our urban centres. As vibrant hubs for the arts, culture and opportunity, it’s no wonder that people are so clearly voting with their feet and moving to those areas. This is something to be celebrated, but it’s not without...
Carbon capture and storage: the heat is on
We recently welcomed the Government’s new action plan on Carbon Capture and Storage, which could bring reductions in emissions from large industrial processes as part of wider efforts to tackle climate change. Our National Infrastructure Assessment – the first of its kind for the UK – examined this emerging technology, and considered where it could...
Shoring up our water supplies
This week we marked ten years since the Climate Change Act. Since the passing of this key piece of legislation, we as a country have become international leaders in this field – yet there is clearly much more to do. As well as reducing carbon emissions we also need to prepare for the effects climate...
Crossrail 2 in the context of a national strategy
London is a city synonymous with innovative infrastructure. The capital has prospered on the shoulders of great pioneers of engineering such as Marc Isambard Brunel and Sir Joseph Bazalgette, responsible respectively for the first Underground rail line and London’s elaborate sewer network. Building on Brunel’s success, the capital is home to the first metro system...
Learning from Australia’s infrastructure challenges
In July, we published our inaugural National Infrastructure Assessment. A world-first in size and scope, it has sparked international interest, with a growing number of countries taking inspiration from the vision we have set out for our nation’s infrastructure. Last month, I was pleased to represent the Commission at the Australian British Infrastructure Catalyst, held...
How further powers could help regions to flourish
On Tuesday, the Mayors of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, Andy Street and Andy Burnham, put aside their political allegiances and came together to urge the Government to implement measures proposed in the National Infrastructure Assessment. Citing their shared ambition to deliver a revolution in transport, housing and employment in their respective regions, they...
Three years on: A new chapter for the National Infrastructure Commission
Like the Queen, the National Infrastructure Commission has two birthdays. The first is 5 October, the day on which George Osborne announced at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference that he was going to follow Sir John Armitt’s advice and set the Commission up (commandeering a key plank of Labour’s economic policy in the process). But...
Notes from Peru
Our National Infrastructure Assessment is a first for the UK and one of the first globally – so I was delighted when the British Ambassador to Peru, Kate Harrisson, asked me to join the Prime Minister’s official envoy to Peru, Mark Menzies MP, and the UK-Peru Joint Infrastructure Task Force on an official visit to...
Design will define the legacy of our infrastructure
Today, this year’s Stirling Prize winner will be revealed. The prestigious award, handed out annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects, recognises the UK’s best new building. Winning the Stirling Prize is like receiving the best picture Oscar, and last year dRMM – the practice I founded with Alex de Rijke and Phiip Marsh...
Developing the underlying framework for a national digital twin
From how we travel to how we communicate, the use of big data now underpins efforts to improve great swathes of our daily lives but, excitingly, we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what we can achieve when we unlock the value of data in the built environment. Nearly a year ago,...
Preparing now for the Roads for the Future
Over the next few decades, we will witness a revolution on our roads. Thanks to advancing technology, the vehicles of tomorrow will have the capacity to be digitally connected and driverless. By 2050, the way we reach our destinations will be unrecognisable. In our lifetime, driverless vehicles are set to shake things up on a...