Infrastructure in Germany versus the United States
After just one week in Germany I am already noticing how different the infrastructure is than that of the US. More importantly, I am noticing a big difference in the cultural climate around infrastructure as well.
Our textbook that ranks Germany as best in the world for overall infrastructure and has the US barely makes the list. The authors did write that the data was biased because no engineers were involved in the ranking. However, after a little bit of research from the US News & World Report, Business Insider, and a management company called Construction Placements, the US is still ranked behind Germany and several others. Remarkably though, the US ranked higher than it did in our textbook, likely due to investments in infrastructure since our textbook’s 2012 publication. I would argue that this is due to widespread infrastructure failures and climate change threats that have caused more investment. It goes to show that people tend to ignore infrastructure systems until they fail, and that we still have a lot of work to do in order to keep up with the rapidly changing global economy and climate.
Here in Germany it feels like people are much less wasteful and don’t take their infrastructure for granted. They don’t get ruffled when the bus gets cancelled, they just have backup plans and push their government for improvement. My host mom complains about how the buses and trains could be better and more in time, despite being astronomically better than the buses and trains in the US. She also is committed to conserving water and energy, with toilets that use drastically less water than the ones I am used to, and very minimal heating and ventilation in the house. She reminds me to open the window after my shower and every morning and night in my room, and keep my heat at a certain level. She also talked to me about how the Russo-Ukrainian war has increased their gas prices immensely. Maybe this is why the infrastructure is so well maintained here compared to the US , because it is at the forefront of people’s minds.
In the US we just use the water and heat and roads whenever we please, only limited by costs. Sometimes we use gluttonous amounts of water and energy and don’t think twice about it (I am guilty of this myself). We take it for granted that we have these things even though they play such an integral role in our lives. For example, I miss my long showers, warm room, and home ventilation. This stems from a bigger idea of taking the water, energy, and transportation infrastructure for granted. It feels like such an adjustment having to vent using the windows and take short showers and not have every room pumped with heat. For my host mom this is the norm. It is always on her mind and reminds me when I forget. I wonder if our physical isolation from most of the world and self reliance as a country has helped to give Americans this point of view. Either way, this is one of the key steps in being proactive about infrastructure which is part of our job as engineers. It is important for us to grasp this idea as to not make the same mistakes as many engineers and lawmakers today.
Drew Angelone
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/well-developed-infrastructure
https://www.businessinsider.com/wef-countries-in-the-world-with-the-best-infrastructure-2016-10
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