Infrastructure (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what infrastructure is, its types, examples and importance in areas such as economics, urban planning and computing.

What is infrastructure?

The infrastructure is the set of services, technical means and facilities that allow the development of an activity. The word infrastructure comes from Latin infra (“below”) and structure (“built”), and therefore this term is used to refer to a structure that supports another, acting as its base.

In its most frequent use, infrastructure includes the set of public works, facilities, institutions, systems and networks that support the functioning of cities, countries and other forms of social organization.

As infrastructure exampleswe can point out: telecommunications systems, power plants, schools, financial institutions, hospitals, airports, bridges, dams, drinking water and energy distribution networks, waste management, roads navigable waters, ports, railways, highways, motor traffic control, industrial parks and military installations of a country.

Infrastructure and superstructure

The word infrastructure became an important concept for Marxist thought. For this stream, the infrastructure It is the material basis of a society: the set of economic processes, productive forces and production relations that create and sustain the superstructure of a society.

According to Marxism, The superstructure is the set of legal, political and ideological elements that characterize a given society. This superstructure arises from the infrastructure and depends on it.

The way of production of a society (infrastructure) will result in different ideologies, beliefs, laws and cultural expressions (superstructure).

Hard, soft and critical infrastructure

Hard infrastructure. These are the material or physical aspects of infrastructure, such as highways, bridges, factories, ports and airports.
Soft infrastructure. It is the human capital and institutions that add value to the physical aspects of the infrastructure. This added value is the set of knowledge, expertise, methods and regulations that optimize the operation of hard infrastructure.
Critical infrastructure. They are essential elements for the functioning of the State. These are systems or networks of such importance that their weakening, sabotage or destruction threaten the security of the State. For example: emergency services, nuclear reactors, communications and financial services.

Urban infrastructure

The urban infrastructure is made up of all the structures, networks and services that allow the normal functioning of citizen life. The maintenance and management of public space, public transportation, waste collection, sewage and lighting networks, and security forces belong to the infrastructure of a modern city.

Urban infrastructure is characterized by its great complexity because every modern city is, at the same time, a place of habitation, work and recreation for large masses of humans.

It is estimated that in the near future 70 percent of the world's population will live in cities. This has raised the need to conceive “smart cities” that optimize the uses of urban infrastructure resources.

Economic infrastructure

The economic infrastructure It is the set of facilities and services that support or facilitate the productive activity of a country or a region.

For example, land, river or sea transportation routes make economic activity feasible. Also, telecommunications, energy, irrigation systems and collection centers are elements of the economic infrastructure.

Military infrastructure

Military or defense infrastructure refers to the permanent buildings and facilities that enable military operations of a country. Barracks, barracks, communications centers, air bases, weapons and ammunition depots or parks, missile systems, maritime facilities, among others, belong to this category.

Network infrastructure

It is called network infrastructure. set of hardware and software resources necessary for any company or industry that uses telecommunications and Internet services.

Typically, a network infrastructure includes: computers, routers, telephony, cabling, operating systems, network security applications, computer protocols, among other elements. These resources allow connectivity, communications and internal management of these organizations.