City infrastructure takes a backseat to other development opportunities. Time consuming projects that cause traffic delays are the least enticing, but often most necessary, city-wide improvements. In order for a city to run like a well-oiled machine, however, infrastructure requires special attention.
The RE.invest Initiative was launched two years ago via funding from the Rockefeller Foundation in order to provide cities with the needed support to become more resilient by investing in infrastructure up front. The Initiative asserts that high upfront investment in infrastructure has long-term financial benefits. Shalini Vajjhala, founder and CEO of re:focus partners, writes for Huffington Post:
Resilience is about systems, not just projects. Resilient storm water management isn’t about one water treatment plant with a billion-dollar price tag. It is about streets paved with porous pavement and rain gardens or underground parking garages that can act as bathtubs to catch floodwaters during bad storms (both of which are real-life solutions being pursued by RE.invest cities).
Read more about mapping these critical investments on Huffington Post.
