For centuries, infrastructure has evolved alongside technology. New materials and engineering techniques enabled taller buildings, longer bridges, and larger cities. Computing and digital technologies later transformed how infrastructure was designed, monitored, and operated.

Now, the pace of change is accelerating, and challenges are arriving simultaneously. Climate change is increasing pressure on water, energy, and other resources. Artificial intelligence is beginning to transform engineering and design, and its energy needs, along with aging grid infrastructure, is creating significant challenges, as well as new opportunities. In addition, geopolitical complexity is exposing vulnerabilities in global supply chains, and demand for infrastructure is rising, particularly in the developing world.

The result is a fundamental challenge: How can the world build the infrastructure it needs without simply repeating the extractive, carbon- and resource-intensive model of the 20th century?

In this interview, Ali Jadbabaie, JR East Professor and head of the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, says the answer will require rethinking not only how infrastructure is designed and built, but how it is financed and operated, and bringing together the many stakeholders who shape those decisions. On Oct. 28, Jadbabaie will join experts from around the world in Madrid to explore these topics at the World Infrastructure Forum, which was co-founded by MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UPM, the World Bank Group, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Q: Infrastructure has always evolved in response to technological advances. What makes this era different?

A: In the 18th century, civil engineering emerged as the civilian counterpart to military engineering, building the dams, bridges, and canals of its time.

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