Soft infrastructure

Soft infrastructure refers to all the institutions which are required to maintain the economic, health, and cultural and social standards of a country, such as the financial system, the education system, the health care system, the system of government, and law enforcement, as well as emergency services.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Soft infrastructure includes both physical assets such as highly specialised buildings and equipment, as well as non-physical assets such as the body of rules and regulations governing the various systems, the financing of these systems, as well as the systems and organisations by which highly skilled and specialised professionals are trained, advance in their careers by acquiring experience, and are disciplined if required by professional associations (professional training, accreditation and discipline).

Unlike hard infrastructure, the essence of soft infrastructure is the delivery of specialised services to people. Unlike much of the service sector of the economy, the delivery of those services depend on highly developed systems and large specialised facilities, fleets of specialised vehicles or institutions that share many of the characteristics of hard infrastructure. Information infrastructure is a basic soft infrastructure, drawing upon Communications infrastructure, especially the Internet and Telecommunication, and supporting the subsequent soft infrastructures.

Governance infrastructure

The system of government and law enforcement, including the political, legislative, law enforcement, justice and penal systems, as well as specialised facilities (government offices, courthouses, prisons, etc.), and specialised systems for collecting, storing and disseminating data, laws and regulation, such as civil registration, business and company registries, land registration, and maintenance of other government databases.
Emergency services, such as police, fire protection, and ambulances, including specialised vehicles, buildings, communications and dispatching systems
Military infrastructure, including military bases, arms depots, training facilities, command centres, communication facilities, major weapons systems, fortifications, specialised arms manufacturing, strategic reserves

Economic infrastructure

The financial system, including the banking system, financial institutions, the payment system, exchanges, the money supply, financial regulations, as well as accounting standards and regulations
Major business logistics facilities and systems, including warehouses as well as warehousing and shipping management systems
Manufacturing infrastructures, including industrial parks and special economic zones, mines and processing plants for basic materials used as inputs in industry, specialised energy, transportation and water infrastructure used by industry, plus the public safety, zoning and environmental laws and regulations that govern and limit industrial activity, and standards organisations
Agricultural, forestry and fisheries infrastructure, including specialised food and livestock transportation and storage facilities, major feedlots, agricultural price support systems (including agricultural insurance), agricultural health standards, food inspection, experimental farms and agricultural research centres and schools, the system of licensing and quota management, enforcement systems against poaching, forest wardens, and fire fighting

Social infrastructure

The health care system, including hospitals, the financing of health care, including health insurance, the systems for regulation and testing of medications and medical procedures, the system for training, inspection and professional discipline of doctors and other medical professionals, public health monitoring and regulations, as well as coordination of measures taken during public health emergencies such as epidemics
The educational and research system, including elementary and secondary schools, universities, specialised colleges, research institutions, the systems for financing and accrediting educational institutions
Social welfare systems, including both government support and private charity for the poor, for people in distress or victims of abuse.

Cultural, sports and recreational infrastructure

Very Large Telescope.^[4]

Sports and recreational infrastructure, such as parks, sports facilities, the system of sports leagues and associations
Cultural infrastructure, such as concert halls, museums, libraries, theatres, studios (film studios and recording studios), and specialised training facilities
Business travel and tourism infrastructure, including both man-made and natural attractions, convention centres, hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, and other services that cater mainly to tourists and business travellers, as well as the systems for informing and attracting tourists, and travel insurance

References

↑ http://www.opendb.net/element/19099.php
↑ http://129.3.20.41/eps/urb/papers/0506/0506002.pdf
↑ http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj11n2/cj11n2-4.pdf
↑ "From Antu to Yepun — The Construction of the VLT". ESO Picture of the Week. Retrieved 4 December 2012.

Bibliography

Larry W. Beeferman, "Pension Fund Investment in Infrastructure: A Resource Paper", Capital Matter (Occasional Paper Series), No.3 December 2008
A. Eberhard, "Infrastructure Regulation in Developing Countries", PPIAF Working Paper No. 4 (2007) World Bank
M. Nicolas J. Firzli & Vincent Bazi, “Infrastructure Investments in an Age of Austerity : The Pension and Sovereign Funds Perspective”, published jointly in Revue Analyse Financière, Q4 2011 issue, pp. 34– 37 and USAK/JTW July 30, 2011 (online edition)
Georg Inderst, "Pension Fund Investment in Infrastructure", OECD Working Papers on Insurance and Private Pensions, No. 32 (2009)
Ascher, Kate; researched by Wendy Marech (2007). The works: anatomy of a city (Reprint. ed.). New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0143112709.
Hayes, Brian (2005). Infrastructure: the book of everything for the industrial landscape (1st ed.). New York City: Norton. ISBN 978-0393329599.
Huler, Scott (2010). On the grid: a plot of land, an average neighborhood, and the systems that make our world work. Emmaus, Penn.: Rodale. ISBN 978-1-60529-647-0.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Infrastructure.

Look up infrastructure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Infrastructure

Bridge Canal Causeway Dam Drainage Footbridge Interchange Levee Overpass Road Skyway Storm drain Tunnel

See also: Architecture Arena Civil engineering Construction Playground Stadium Theatre Urban park

Public infrastructure

Assets and facilities	Airports Bridges Broadband Canals Critical infrastructure Dams Electricity Energy Hazardous waste Hospitals Levees Lighthouses Municipal solid waste Parks Ports Public housing Public spaces Public transport Public utilities Public works Rail transport Roads Sewage State schools Telecommunications Wastewater Water supply Wind power

Concepts	Appropriation Asset management Build–operate–transfer Design–build Earmark Engineering contracts Externality Fixed cost Government debt Life-cycle assessment Lindahl tax Maintenance Natural monopoly Property tax Public capital Public finance Public good Public sector Public–private partnership Renovation Spillover effect Supply chain Taxation Upgrade

Issues and ideas	Air traffic control Brownfield land Bus rapid transit Carbon footprint Congestion pricing Containerization Ethanol fuel Fuel efficiency Fuel tax Groundwater High-speed rail Hybrid vehicles Land-use planning Mobile data terminal Pork barrel Recycling Renewable resources Reverse osmosis Smart grid Smart growth Stormwater Sustainability Traffic congestion Transit-oriented development Urban sprawl Waste-to-energy Weatherization Wireless

Fields of study	Architecture Civil Electrical Mechanical Public economics Public policy Urban planning

Examples	Akashi Kaikyō Bridge Autobahn Brooklyn Bridge Bus rapid transit systems Channel Tunnel Controlled-access highway systems Electric power transmission High-speed trains Hong Kong International Airport Hoover Dam Kansai International Airport Nuclear power Offshore wind farms Panama Canal Port of Shanghai San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge Solar power Three Gorges Dam Trans-Alaska pipeline Transcontinental railroads

Railway infrastructure

Permanent way	Permanent way (history) Permanent way (current) Railroad tie/Sleeper Rail fastening system Track ballast Rail profile Fishplate Breather switch Datenail Axe ties Ladder track Baulk road Cant Minimum radius Track transition curve Clip and scotch

Trackwork and track structures	Junction Wye Railroad switch Gauntlet track Railway electrification system Third rail Overhead lines Guide bar Track gauge Track geometry Railway turntable Water crane Track pan Rail track Tramway track Classification yard Rail yard Siding Passing loop Balloon loop Headshunt Refuge siding Dual gauge Roll way

Signalling and safety	Derail Railway signalling Signalling control Wayside horn Railway signal Interlocking Level crossing Buffer stop Catch points Loading gauge Structure gauge Block post Train stop Signal bridge

Buildings	Railway station Station building Railway station layout Station clock Train shed Goods shed Motive power depot Roundhouse Railway platform

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