The Observatory on Latin America presents the book launch: Infrastructure Policy and Inequality, written by Michael Cohen. 

September 24, 2024 - Wollman Hall, 

                                     Fifth Floor, Room B500, 

                                     65 West 11th Street, New York

Welcoming Remarks:

Joel Towers
President, The New School

Book Presentation:

Michael Cohen
Director of the Doctoral Program in Public and Urban Policy, The New School.

Discussants:

Aromar Revi
Director, Indian Institute for Human Settlements

Sakiko Fukuda-Parr
Professor of International Affairs, The New School

Nidhi Srinivas
Professor of Management, The New School.

“More infrastructure is not enough; different and better is needed,” argues Michael Cohen.

The book reframes the purpose of infrastructure from being an input to economic growth to becoming a major instrument in reducing socio-economic inequalities in both industrialized and developing countries.

Per Michael, this book surveys infrastructure policies and performance over several decades, drawing on global and national lessons of COVID-19 and extensive working experience in 55 countries. “It reviews the World Bank’s experience launching a 30-year program to alleviate urban poverty through 7,000 projects. It shows that many significant policy changes have improved global urban policies adopted by national and local governments, yet they have failed to significantly address and reduce intra-urban inequalities.”

It suggests that the “underperformance” of infrastructure could be improved by paying more attention to users and the demand side, thereby contributing to overcoming many obstacles facing low-income communities worldwide.

“Infrastructure Policy and Inequality” argues that growth is not a necessary condition for sustainability or social justice and that both are undermined by structural inequalities that reduce the income and opportunities of urban households. More focus on user needs can substantially change the distribution of benefits and the quality of living conditions of low-income people. It provides a unique theoretical and on-the-ground critique of conventional infrastructure practices.