Booz Allen Hamilton suggests how to reinvigorate electricity, water, and transportation systems (page 5 of 5)

As people pour into cities, the abundance of power, water, and mobility will define their lives. Problems like this $40 trillion challenge are not solved overnight, and muddling through will probably work, as a substitute for strategy, for another five years. But the sooner we think about it comprehensively, the less expensive the solution will be.

"We are quite fortunate that we can see the problem that lies ahead," concludes George Sarraf of Booz Allen Hamilton. "Governments and businesses can commit to remaking our future through suitable investment to the benefit of everyone. The only question is one of commitment on their part."

In the end, some cities will organize their infrastructure more effectively than others. They will figure out how to balance public and private interests; how to put the right incentives in place for resilience and growth; and how to leverage the relationships between water, power, and transportation. They will become the cities of opportunity; they will be the cities, for example, where many readers of this magazine will choose to work and live. They will become centers of growth and innovation for the farsighted companies of the next 100 years. And they will become magnets for humanity, standing on the platform of quality infrastructure: a platform that goes generally unnoticed — except when it doesn't work.