The Governance of Infrastructure Interfaces: Cities, Technical Systems and Institutional Connections

The interfaces or connection points bring together different technical characteristics (e.g. large/small scale), governance regimes (e.g. formal/informal) and disciplinary expertise (e.g. engineering/social policy). Understanding the boundaries between infrastructure interfaces tends to be neglected in urban praxis and research. Yet it is here where many critical questions for cities arise: who governs, who decides, who funds?

Based on comparative case study methods, this project examines two interfaces: transport (rail/local transport) and sanitation (city-wide/local) infrastructures in each of the two case-study cities. Combining socio-spatial analysis with institutional analysis of infrastructure governance, it aims to better understand the relationship between development goals and the contribution made by infrastructure roll out, and also generating a typology of infrastructure interfaces across sectors.

Principal Investigator: Dr Philipp Rode, London School of Economics & Political Science  

Co-Investigators: Professor Jo Beall, British Council; Dr Marco Di Nunzio, London School of Economics & Political Science; Dr Nuno da Cruz, London School of Economics & Political Science