Are Americans pessimistic or optimistic about the country’s future? What are their thoughts on the state of infrastructure? Does our infrastructure represent intergenerational equity and how is our infrastructure shaping future communities? These are certainly some hefty questions. These questions and more were addressed in a recent survey and report. What’s more, the insights are even more enlightening.
GHD released a report—CROSSROADS—on the perspectives of the role infrastructure plays in meeting the diverse needs of current and future generations. The organization compiled its research from the roughly 13,000 people it surveyed. It gathered data from 4,000 people in the United States, with a greater focus on responses from California, Florida, New York, and Texas. The report revealed most Americans are pessimistic about the country’s future. Interestingly, the younger generations are more optimistic than the older generations, with Gen X the most pessimistic overall.
Here are some key takeaways:
- Only 36% of U.S. respondents had a positive view, while 46% had a negative view.
- Residents in California and Texas were the most optimistic.
- Roughly 50% of the U.S. market has experienced the impact of climate change.
- 72% of Californians believe the switch to clean energy will create jobs for their community.
- Floridians prioritize environmental concerns with a focus on building a sustainable economy and protecting natural waterways.
- While New Yorkers claim to experience lower impact from climate change compared to other states, they are still willing to pay more for sustainable products and services and are most optimistic about the shift towards clean energy.
- Texans experience the highest impact of climate change compared to other states and are more open to government spending on community protection.
All in all, there were some key areas of agreement for most survey respondents including that government should focus on making roads safer, do more to curb transport emissions, and invest more to educate about clean energy. People also believe awareness about water usage is important and that we need varied and cheaper housing.
Maria Lehman, U.S. infrastructure lead, GHD, points to an important consideration here: understanding the needs of infrastructure for the next 50 years.
The country was allocated $1.2 trillion as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and now the construction industry is tasked with building the infrastructure of tomorrow. To achieve this goal, we must make sure it is being achieved in a way that meets the needs of today and future generations. It is a tall task and a big responsibility for those working in construction today and those of tomorrow.
Certainly, technology can play a crucial part here—although we must proceed with caution because roughly 71% of survey respondents are worried about the privacy and safety of internet connected devices gathering data. Still, the IoT (Internet of Things), AI (artificial intelligence), and other technologies can help improve traffic flow, enhance resource management, and speed up construction processes to deliver projects on time and on budget, as just a few examples. Candidly, it’s clear the infrastructure goals will not be achieved without a clear technology roadmap. This is a journey for sure and most Americans would likely agree with me that nothing is built overnight. We just need to determine how to move forward in a way that takes into consideration worker safety and is certainly resilient for all.
Ultimately, as we look to the future, all partners need to build infrastructure that is resilient, sustainable, and equitable. The question now becomes how do they come together to achieve these goals without running into costly delays, overruns, worker injury, or worse? Leveraging data and AI technology, and other innovation will only be the beginning of what the future holds for building tomorrow’s future today.
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