Infrastructure as a Complex Adaptive System

Table 1

Characteristics of the UK National Infrastructure System (adapted from Hall et al. [15]).

	Energy	Transport	Water	Waste		Digital Communications
				Wastewater	Solid Waste
Scale	National; International	Regional; National; International	Regional	Regional	Regional	National; International
Ownership	Private	Mixed (by mode)	Mixed (by region)	Mixed (by region)	Mixed (public responsibility with private operation	Private
Governance and Regulation	Varies e.g. electricity has unregulated market prices but regulated network charges	Varies e.g. rail has regulated efficiency targets; roads and government planned with some private provision	For England and Wales, price and investment regulated by Ofwat, drinking water quality regulation by DWI, environmental regulation by EA.		Local Authority run. Environmental regulation by EA/DEFRA in England and Wales, SEPA in Scotland	Competition regulation by Ofcom; universal service obligations; spectrum licences and coverage obligations
Issues	Security of supply; GHG emissions	Congestion; high speed rail; airport capacity	Demand management; climate change; environmental regulation	Energy costs; environmental regulation	Waste minimisation and recycling targets; resource management	Technological innovation; rural coverage