Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Systems: A Framework For Meeting 21st Century Imperatives. Report of a Workshop

摘要

For the people of the United States, the 20th century was one of unprecedented population growth, economic development, and improved quality of life. As the population grew by 205 million (U.S. DOC, 2008), Americans invested huge sums of money to meet a range of social, economic, and political imperatives or urgent needs. These imperatives included providing for public health, safety, and comfort, national security, economic expansion, and job growth. Meeting these imperatives required the construction of water, wastewater, and power systems, as well as roads, railways, airports, and telecommunications systems. As these imperatives were met, cities and regions were developed, great swathes of forest and land were cleared, rivers were controlled and channeled, and renewable and nonrenewable resources were harvested, extracted, and productively used.