Cities and Their Vital Systems: Infrastructure Past, Present, and Future (Series on Technology and Social Priorities)

Cities and Their Vital Systems asks basic questions about the longevity, utility, and nature of urban infrastructures; analyzes how they grow, interact, and change; and asks how, when, and at what cost they should be replaced. Among the topics discussed are problems arising from increasing air travel and airport congestion; the adequacy of water supplies and waste treatment; the impact of new technologies on construction; urban real estate values; and the field of "telematics," the combination of computers and telecommunications that makes money machines and national newspapers possible. Table of ContentsFront Matter1 Cities and Infrastructure: Synthesis and Perspectives2 The Dynamic Characterization of Cities3 How Cities Grew in the Western World: A Systems Approach4 Urban Systems and Historical Path Dependence5 An Economic Model of Urban Growth6 Growth of U.S. Cities and Recent Trends in Urban Real Estate Values7 Infrastructures for Movement: Past and Future8 Dynamics and Replacement of U.S. Transport Infrastructures9 Air Traffic Congestion: Problems and Prospects10 Combining Communications and Computing: Telematics Infrastructures11 Reflections on the Telecommunications Infrastructure12 Water Supply and Distribution: The Next 50 Years13 The Urban Wastewater Infrastructure14 New Construction Technologies for Rebuilding the Nation's Infrastructure15 Longevity of InfrastructureContributorsIndex