Regionalizing the infrastructure turn: a research agenda

• Published in: Regional studies, regional science Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 10 - 26
• Main Authors: Addie, Jean-Paul D., Glass, Michael R., Nelles, Jen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.01.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: governance; Infrastructure; interdisciplinarity; Intervention; Jurisdiction; planning; regionalization; regions; spatial imaginaries
• ISSN: 2168-1376; 2168-1376
• DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2019.1701543

An interdisciplinary 'infrastructure turn' has emerged over the past 20 years that disputes the concept of urban infrastructure as a staid or neutral set of physical artefacts. Responding to the increased conceptual, geographical and political importance of infrastructure - and endemic issues of access, expertise and governance that the varied provision of infrastructures can cause - this intervention asserts the significance of applying a regional perspective to the infrastructure turn. This paper forwards a critical research agenda for the study of 'infrastructural regionalisms' to interrogate: (1) how we study and produce knowledge about infrastructure; (2) how infrastructure is governed across or constrained by jurisdictional boundaries; (3) who drives the construction of regional infrastructural imaginaries; and (4) how individuals and communities differentially experience regional space through infrastructure. Analysing regions through infrastructure provides a novel perspective on the regional question and consequently offers a framework to understand better the implications of the current infrastructure moment for regional spaces worldwide.