Seeking harmony in the symphony of infrastructure
I’ve been thinking about infrastructure again.
It seems to me, as an industry fringe dweller, that my earlier symphony analogy could be extended to apply equally as well to us, as citizens, as it does to the sector. The idea of a range of voices combining to rise above the individual and create a harmonious chorus is very appealing.
Between discord and unison lies harmony.
There was probably never a time when an entire citizenry agreed that something was a good idea. But that shouldn’t mean that differences of opinion need to cluster at the furthest reaches of the extreme to gain attention. Is there a middle ground, where our combined voices can create a harmonious chorus of general accord, rather than either discordant cacophony or apathetic monotone?
Tuneful harmony alone won’t get us all the way, of course. We need more than consensus to grow our cities. But I think it might be a good part of the picture.
Big picture thinking: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Infrastructure Australia’s National Infrastructure Plan will, I hope, be an instrument for optimistic collaboration. There are plenty of challenges, but we can work together (government, corporates, industry and citizens) to define the path that will take us together, even if not wholly unified, into a sustainable long term future.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
More than that - it's a relay.
None of the needs outlined in the National Infrastructure Audit's key findings will be met in the short term. But we can see from this distance the costs of not starting. Road congestion. Failing or absent urban transport. Lack of affordable housing. Lack of access to services, including telecommunications. A bit of short term paralysis will be nothing compared with the grinding halt and downward slide awaiting our quality of life if we don't stop talking and start doing.
This work can't not happen; it can't not start just because those who start it won't get to finish it. This is a marathon, not a sprint. More than that - it's a relay. We all - government, industry and citizens - need to be prepared to be the first step, rather than the whole journey.
The future is not inevitable - and it shouldn't be inequitable.
We are in a position to set the agenda and decide what our future looks like. We can make some bold decisions: the data shows our four biggest cities getting ever bigger, streaking away from the other capitals. This looks inevitable, but maybe it's not: we can make that decision now - is that what we want? Could we be so bold as to say we could redistribute that growth more evenly, stretching our young sunburnt limbs further in the directions with more room to move? Or, if we consciously decide that we want to remain on the current path, are we prepared for the disparities that brings? What can we do to minimise the inequities?
Thinking beyond the election cycle
Such considerations seem to sit uneasily in a political context that curtails our leaders from making bolder strides in new directions, even when the will is evidently there. Instead we tinker around the edges, and in some cases recede from the edge altogether - witness the decision to shelve Melbourne's East West Link, for better or for worse. Other opportunities may meet the same fate if we can't free ourselves from this one step forward, one step back style of government - undoing the other side's work for short term impact.
Is it too much to expect that we can find common ground on the way forward for our nation, dispensing with reactive opposition in favour of 'walking gently forward together' (to use Peter Fitzsimmons' recent eloquent phrase, albeit in a different context) along a wide road that accommodates the demands and aspirations of as many of us as possible?
Eyes ahead, and don't look down...
My feeling is that we are at a point of huge potential and it needs a broad community of minds to keep the faith and maintain our gaze on the horizon. Otherwise, all we see are the potholes and bumps in the road.