Daniel Jonsson

							Daniel Jonsson

Swedish Defence Research Agency
Dep. of Energy and Environmental Security



Royal Inst. of Techn., KTH
Dep. of Built Environment Analysis
Dep. of Environmental Strategies Reseach – fms
A Systems Perspective on Infrastructure

    (infrastructure system = infrasystem)


1) System characteristics – a technical
   perspective
2) System development – a socio-technical
   perspective
3) What are infrasystems delivering? – a
   service perspective
                  Systems?

Peter Checkland 1999:      Lars Ingelstam 2002:
• Designed physical        • Machines
  systems                  • Organisms
• Designed abstract        • Social systems
  systems                  • Socio-technical systems
• Human activity systems   • NTS-systems
• Natural systems            (Nature–Technology–Society)
          Systems?

Systems are defined by boundaries,
demarcating a certain system from the
surroundings. The system consists of
components and relations, forming
some sort of entirety.
    Basic functions of infrasystems

•   transport (of people and goods)
•   water and sewage
•   energy
•   waste
•   communication (of information)
                                   Overview
     Infrasystems
                                                            Users /
                                       technical            consumers
                                       components
                     environment
    economy
                                                               households

                                             deliver           organisations
institutions                  social
                              issues                           enterprises
                                             services          buildings

                                                               society
     legal
     prerequisites        political
                          trends

                                          socio-technical
                                          aspects
Technical components
Infrasystem architecture
                              Nodes
   ...where certain functions, or processes, are performed on
      the flow or where the flow is produced or consumed

• Origin nodes: power plants, water works, television and radio stations,
  refuse chutes, WCs

• Destination nodes: wall sockets, water taps, TVs and radios, landfills,
  sewage treatment plants

• Process nodes: power transformers, supporting water pumps, TV
  satellites, waste assortment facilities, telephone exchanges, train
  switches

• Multi-purpose nodes: train stations, on-line computers, waste
  incineration plants
                                Links
    ...what is generally referred to as ‘infrastructure’


• Visible: roads, pipes, cables, rails
• Invisible: air corridors, radio links, navigation channels



• Exclusive: water pipes, oil and gas pipelines, subways, electric cables
• Non-exclusive: roads, rails
                             Networks
• Point-shaped: shipping, air traffic (only accessible at ports and airports)
• Line-shaped: roads, power mains, telephones
• Surface-shaped: radio, TV, mobile phone networks

• Grid-based: electricity, water, district heating, railways (visible links)
• Non-grid-based: shipping, air transport, radio, TV (invisible links)

• Specific: electricity, water, telephone (exclusive grid-based)
• Existing: postal services, food distribution, non-grid-based energy
  systems
• Natural: waterways, air, „on the air‟ (natural broadcasting media)

                                            (Arne Kaijser 1994)
                               Flows
Some perspectives on infrasystem flow:

• Basic function: energy, water, waste, information

• Constituent parts: electrons, photons, water molecules, bikes, cars,
  lorries, food scraps, cans, mail items, people, goods

• Continuous flows: water, electricity, district heating, gas
• Discrete flows: mail delivery, public transport, waste removal
  (when the demand is too small for continuous operation)
Infrasystems are socio-technical
           systems
Infrasystems should not only be treated as sets of
technical components – they also include the people and
organisations that plan, build, run and use the systems,
and the economic and legal conditions for the activities.
                         (Arne Kaijser 1991; 1994)


From a socio-technical perspective, infrastructure should
be understood as a seamless web of technical,
economic, institutional, social and political aspects.
                 (Thomas P. Hughes 1983, Guy and Marvin 2001)
       Socio-technical revolutions
             – an example

First public railway: Stockton – Darlington, 1825
Organised as traditional canal traffic:
1) bring your own vehicle
2) pay the fee
3) have a nice trip!

            result => congestion, low profits, general chaos
              ...example (cont.)

Second public railway: Liverpool – Manchester, 1830
A brand new organisational set-up, and ownership relations:
1) check the time-tables
2) pay for the ticket / goods fee
3) have a nice trip!

      result => smooth operation, economies of scale
      Evolution of infrasystems
                                                                           ?



                                                                           ?




Invention   Technology   System growth   Momentum   Decrease in momentum
            transfer

Establishing phase              Expansion phase     Stagnation phase
       Establishing phase
The phase of inventors, entrepreneurs,
risk capitalists, and large important,
potential consumers or interested parties

                  Actor networks
              Expansion phase
... is characterised by common confidence in the system
    and its future growth

• system culture: a common view upon what is rational
  and desirable
• momentum: the systematic interaction of people, ideas,
  technology and institutions, leads to the development of
  a socio-technical force – with movement and direction
• inertia: it is hard to decide on something that is not in line
  with the current system culture
• load factors
Load factors (expansion phase)
load factor = the ratio of average output to the maximum
output during a certain period


High load factors, but also smooth load curves, are
desirable

“The load factor is, probably, the major explanation for
the growth of capital-intensive technological systems in
capitalistic, interest-calculating societies” (Hughes 1989)
           Stagnation phase
•   momentum decreases
•   market saturates
•   competition from new systems
•   environmental problems

           => steady-state, or decline
                                   Overview
     Infrasystems
                                                            Users /
                                       technical            consumers
                                       components
                     environment
    economy
                                                               households

                                             deliver           organisations
institutions                  social
                              issues                           enterprises
                                             services          buildings

                                                               society
     legal
     prerequisites        political
                          trends

                                          socio-technical
                                          aspects
The Nature of Infrasystem Services


 Infrasystems deliver service, or have
 service in readiness, in order to produce
 utilities or conveniences, fulfilling the
 needs of individuals, households,
 enterprises and organisations.
  Some perspectives on service,
 utilities, conveniences, and needs
• Practical services, to sustain a comfortable
  living, e.g. personal hygiene and indoor climate
• Symbolical services, social or demonstrative,
  supporting a certain life-style, e.g. large
  expensive vehicles
• Aesthetical services, conveying feelings of well-
  being to individuals, e.g. design details of
  buildings, interiors and equipments or taking a
  hot bath not primarily to get clean but for the
  pleasure
                       (Örjan Svane 1999)
        A metabolic perspective
• To nourish, which embraces all processes and goods to
  produce and consume food.
• To clean, including all processes to maintain human
  health, e.g. personal hygiene and sewage treatment.
• To reside and work, which comprises all processes set
  up to erect and maintain the built environment, also
  including, for example, recreation facilities and furniture.
• To transport and communicate, which embraces all
  processes involving transportation of people and
  material and exchange of information.

                            (Baccini and Brunner 1991)
     Needs of Maslow (1954)
1. physiological (e.g. food, water),
2. safety (e.g. shelter, support oneself),
3. belongingness (e.g. friends, family),
4. self-esteem (sense of self-identity and
   appreciation from other), and
5. self-actualization (sense of self-purpose
   and to be able to transform interest and
   wishes into practice).
infrasystem
                Needs
                (household perspective)
  service       •   Personal hygiene & health
                •   Food & drink
                •   Indoor climate
                •   Indoor hygiene
  utility, or   •   Making a living
convenience     •   Personal improvement & recreation
                •   Public services


  need
Infrasystem          Infrasystem service   Utility, or convenience   Need
                         (example)             (example)

Water system         Drinking water        Cooking                   Food & drink

Water system         Taking a shower       Clean body                Personal hygiene & health

Sewer system         Removal               Sewage treatment          Public services

Waste system         Removal               No garbage in the house   Indoor hygiene

Transport systems    Mail services         Social interaction        Personal improvement &
                                                                         recreation
Road system          Private motoring      Getting to work           Making a living

Rail system          Freight transports    Distribution of food      Food & drink

Electricity system   Electricity           Vacuum-cleaning           Indoor hygiene

District heating     Heat                  Heating                   Indoor climate
    system
The Internet         Access to remote      Education                 Personal improvement &
                        locations                                        recreation
       What‟s the point of it?
• Approaching services and utilities, rather
  than technology and systems, might help
  us finding other ways – perhaps more
  environmental friendly – to fulfil our needs.

• Key words: substitutions, synergies
                    daniel.jonsson@foi.se




Jonsson (2000), Sustainable Infrasystem Synergies: A Conceptual
Framework, Journal of Urban Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 81-104

Jonsson (2005), The Nature of Infrasystem Services, Journal of
Infrastructure Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 2-8