Driverless cars will form a fast, efficient transport network, which will make car ownership redundant. But they could also spell the end of public transport.
Nigerian citizens have turned to social media to keep tabs on infrastructure projects.
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Tackling corruption is notoriously difficult but Nigeria is pursuing a fresh approach. Using technology, especially social media, its citizens are producing evidence to hold officials to account.
The aftermath of the Brumadinho dam collapse, which took place on January 25, 2019, in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
Vinícius Mendonça/Ibama
Population growth is creating a huge demand for infrastructure, even as environmental risks grow. To detect problems early, satellites can provide rich data to help assess infrastructure “health”.
Bottled water distribution in Glenwood, Iowa, where massive spring flooding along the Missouri River disrupted drinking water treatment, April 3, 2019.
AP Photo/Nati Harnik
In many municipalities, aging water infrastructure is serving fewer people than it was built to accommodate. Out of sight has meant out of mind – but resulting changes in water quality may affect safety.
Rescue personnel search through debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 11, 2018.
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
An engineering professor explains why rural areas are especially vulnerable to hurricanes, and what they can do to ensure that no one is left without help.
Our experts take a closer look at what’s in store for the country in five key policy areas: health, tax, education, infrastructure and the environment.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
Now that the Coalition has won the federal election, how will it meet its campaign promises on taxes, the environment, education, health and infrastructure?
When political leaders swap suits for hi-viz vests the costs of the promises they make are high, and often not well justified.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The major parties are promising tens of billions of dollars in transport spending, but only a handful of projects are on Infrastructure Australia’s national priority list with approved business cases.
Underwater view of waves breaking over a healthy coral reef, reducing wave energy at the shoreline that can cause flooding.
Curt Storlazzi, USGS
Michael Beck, University of California, Santa Cruz
A new report shows that coral reefs reduce damage from floods across the United States and its trust territories by more than $1.8 billion every year – and pinpoints that value state by state.
The problem of unsafe drinking water afflicts poor communities most.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
Just as America’s highways, sewage systems and water pipes need fixing, so does the growing gap between rich and poor. Trump and the Democrats could use that money to address both.
Nigeria’s education system is under funded.
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Climate change science was driven by curiosity in the past. Now climate researchers need to focus on managing the risk of global warming’s ill effects.
Fixing cracks and potholes in concrete roads like this one may be easier with help from bacteria.
Yaghoob Farnam
Patching concrete sidewalks, roads and bridges after every season of snow and ice is expensive. A team of engineers is now testing a new approach harnessing bacteria to patch the potholes and cracks.
The Morrison government’s packaging of a bundle of roads spending as “urban congestion” measures is an acknowledgement that transport planning has been inadequate.
Dean Lewins/AAP
The focus on roads reflects the fact that this infrastructure program lags well behind the growth of our biggest cities, resulting in less-than-ideal transport patterns.
People sift through the 2019 Canadian budget. Will the promised programs be implemented successfully?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
Here are some key factors of success to consider for western government taking on large projects – following these will help prevent the routine fails we often see.
Previous NSW election promises were easily funded. Not so this time.
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Prices have been falling since September 2017. It means the budget will no longer repair itself.
About 100 homes in Angus, Ont. were damaged by a tornado in June 2014. Ten lost their roofs and had to be demolished.
Gregory Alan Kopp, Western University
Weather-related catastrophic events have cost Canadians more than $17 billion in the past decade. That only stands to grow, unless building codes change to make homes more resilient.
It’s a fight for a rapidly vanishing centre, which will make passing bills difficult for whoever wins.
Chris Pavlich/Dean Lewins(AAP)
Mark Latham in the upper house? A Coalition minority government? The NSW election is nearly upon us, and it’s going to be a wild ride
It's worth keeping an eye on the NSW election outcome. It may end up telling us a lot about how global political themes, like the erosion of centrist politics, are playing out here in Australia.