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Bored Panda

Entertainment

Laura Radavičiūtė

62 Fantastic Examples Of Some Of The World’s Best Infrastructure (New Pics)

China Germany United States McKinsey Brookings India Los Angeles MA

Infrastructure is one of those things that, if it’s done really well, you don’t really have to think about it. If your city has excellent public transportation, smooth roads, walkable neighborhoods, and animal-friendly parks, life is probably pretty good.

But if you’re constantly driving through potholes, waiting 40 minutes for a bus, or walking an hour for a journey that would have taken 5 minutes by car, you’re probably also complaining about your local government at every opportunity. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. We took a trip to an online community that is dedicated to celebrating some of the best infrastructure from all over the world. So enjoy scrolling through these photos, and be sure to upvote the things that you’d like to see in your own city!

#1 Electric Elevated Railway (Suspension Railway) , Wuppertal, Germany

#2 The Falkirk Wheel, A Rotating Boat Lift In Scotland. It Replaces The Original 11 Locks On The Forth And Clyde Canal Junction With The Union Canal

#3 A Tram On The Stuttgart Rack Railway With A Trailer For Bikes. Stuttgart, Germany

When you think of infrastructure, your mind might immediately go to things like roads, bridges, and sidewalks. But according to McKinsey & Company, nowadays, it means much more. It also includes fiber-optic cables, charging stations for electric vehicles, renewable power plants, and cutting-edge digital networks.

McKinsey estimates that a whopping $106 trillion will be invested in infrastructure between now and 2040, with Asia expected to receive over half of those funds. It’s predicted that the largest amounts of money will be put towards transportation and logistics, energy and power, digital, and social infrastructure. Small amounts will be allotted for waste and water, agriculture, and defense.

#4 Crab Overpass On Christmas Island, Preventing Migrating Crabs From Getting Ran Over

#5 High-Speed Rail And The Great Wall (Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics)

#6 200-Year-Old Wooden Bridge In Dagestan (Russia), Built Without The Use Of A Single Nail

The infrastructure industry is not without problems, though. McKinsey reports that there are significant labor shortages and a lack of skilled workers in many regions. Apparently, in the United States, the construction industry had over 400,000 job openings for different skills in 2023 and early 2024. Meanwhile, the renewables sector needs to add approximately 2.8 million jobs over the next 3 years.

These shortages have forced countries to come up with more creative solutions and strategies, such as implementing automation, modular methods, and remote-operations technologies.

“For instance, Germany’s Deutsche Bahn has expanded digital maintenance efforts to speed up inspections, adopting AI-supported camera gates (which automate inspection in rail or transport infrastructure), robots, and measuring systems,” McKinsey explained.

#7 Somewhere In China

#8 Three Undergound Metro Lines Crossing Eachother At The Place De L'opéra In Paris

#9 Ecoducts, Railway, Highway, Roads, Walkways,... In Breda, The Netherlands[740x1110]

Investopedia explains that there are two types of infrastructure that impact our lives: hard and soft. Hard infrastructure includes things like roads, highways, bridges, and everything needed to make those accessible, such as buses, vehicles, and oil refineries. Soft infrastructure, on the other hand, refers to human capital and institutions necessary to deliver services to the population. This includes healthcare, financial institutions, government offices, law enforcement, and education.

#10 Sart Canal Bridge, Belgium

#11 Giantic Bridge In Germany, 158 Meter Tall, 1702 Meters Long

#12 Roundabout Bridge In Italy

Now, you might be wondering why infrastructure matters so much and why we should care about it. According to Brookings, it is important for several reasons. First, it is the backbone of a healthy economy. It provides millions of jobs each year and allows people to connect with their jobs, while also protecting a nation from an increasingly unpredictable natural environment. Reliable infrastructure is also crucial for connecting to supply chains and moving goods and services across borders.

#13 Takaosan Highway Interchange, Tokyo

#14 An Archipelago In Norway

#15 A Train Route In India

To be effective, infrastructure must constantly be improved and upgraded to keep up with the ways in which a society changes. For example, Brookings notes that the percentage of licensed drivers in the United States at the moment is the lowest it’s been in three decades. Because more and more people are relying on public transit and bikes or bike-sharing services, cities must adapt to make it easier for carless individuals to get around.

#16 Jacksonville, Florida Interchange

#17 Storseisundet Bridge - Norway

#18 Veluwemeer Aqueduct, The Netherlands

Meanwhile, the United States still has a growing population. Because of this, infrastructure must be updated to accommodate a larger population. Cities, in particular, must provide more housing, transportation, and resources for their large populations. It’s also important to have resources in place that will help residents find work, particularly unemployed residents. The more that infrastructure works for the people, the better off they’ll be.

#19 Inside The Main Railway Station In Berlin, Germany [1000x1000]

#20 San Francisco Infrastructure [1080x1308]

#21 Chengdu Overpass Covered With Greenery

While this list features examples from all over the world, there are certain places that have been particularly successful at implementing fantastic infrastructure. According to US News, Singapore is the best in the world when it comes to infrastructure. After Singapore, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, Estonia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Qatar, Sweden, and Lithuania aren’t far behind. So if you want to visit a place that will wow you with its infrastructure, now you know where to go!

#22 Railway Bridge In Nairobi National Park, Kenya

#23 The World's Longest Urban Boulevard, Tianfu Avenue In Chengdu, China

#24 Temporary Road Build Around A Landslide In Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Are you enjoying this list full of fabulous examples of brilliant infrastructure, pandas? Keep upvoting the images that impress you the most, and let us know in the comments below what you’d like to see your country improve. Then, if you’d like to check out another list from Bored Panda discussing the same topic, we recommend reading this article next!