Unlocking opportunity through infrastructure investment

International infrastructure renewal programmes can inspire how the UK funds and delivers economic growth, writes Ian Edwards, President and CEO of AtkinsRéalis.

Governments worldwide are pushing ahead with plans to direct public and private funds into sustainable, resilient physical and social infrastructure that is fit for the future.

This global infrastructure renaissance will be defined by more than just scale. From America to Australia, the aims of these major programmes are broader than replacing ageing networks or buildings: transformative plans are being created around ambitious goals of revitalising economies, strengthening economic and societal resilience, and improving quality of life across regions.

In the UK, investment in infrastructure will be a key enabler to deliver on the Government’s missions and swiftly achieve broader outcomes for people and place. Done well, renewal programmes revitalise cities, enhance connectivity, ensure security of vital resources, and cements sustainable growth. To secure investment and succeed in its own infrastructure renaissance, the UK will require new ways to frame, fund and deliver major programmes at pace. Doing so will deliver on growth, help meet ambitious net zero targets, and build thriving communities in all four corners of the country.

Delivering growth through renewal

International competition for institutional investment is strong but there are of course enduring indicators that send a positive message to global markets. Maintaining momentum in critical national projects will signal the strength of commitment to infrastructure, as will prioritising reforms to streamline the planning system and prevent delays to future projects. The publication of long-term infrastructure and industrial strategies will also inspire confidence in government priorities to provide greater certainty.

Canada has been held up as a model for the UK to replicate, where institutional investment has been scaled up to deliver sustainable infrastructure and transform communities. From the perspective of a company headquartered in Montreal with experience delivering many major projects in the region, Canada’s approach to vital infrastructure also extends beyond its internationally-recognised pension model. Its Long-Term Infrastructure Plan has secured over $150 billion of investment into sustainable, resilient infrastructure to boost regional economic growth through transport systems, buildings, clean energy and water networks, with partnership delivery models increasingly used to leverage private sector efficiency and alleviate public finance pressures.

Better-connected strategies

Around the world, programme funding is increasingly linked to societal outcomes, particularly for projects supported through national infrastructure banks. This is about more than criteria – it requires a well-defined strategy to achieve those outcomes. Many such programmes are shaped around the needs of individual cities or provinces, much like the aspiration of devolved powers to create regional plans of growth and renewal in the UK.

Take the city of Toronto as one example of a long-term strategy rooted in socio-economic outcomes. Its 25-year integrated transport plan addresses the needs of a growing urban population by expanding existing networks and building new transit methods to move people through the city faster, enhancing productivity and increasing the commutable radius around the city. Provincial legislation was introduced to prioritise transit projects that generate economic growth and housing options, and the city’s masterplan intersects transport with housing needs, like the creation of transit-oriented communities: mixed-use urban developments that create well-connected communities and reduce road congestion and emissions.

From place-making programmes to power grids, individual projects become attractive investments in part because they are vital components of broader visions for the future. Long-term, coherent strategies also provide businesses with the certainty to invest in skills and build local supply chains with the knowledge and experience to deliver commercial and social benefits.

The power of partnerships

For outcome-based programmes, the key to securing investment and delivering on socio-economic goals lies also in the power of partnerships at every stage of a project: a more holistic approach where the public and private sector work together to plan, fund and deliver projects.

In the UK, and across the world, better procurement models are already incentivising supply chains around common public goals of sustainability and community impact across the lifecycle of a project. Progressive contracting and delivery models can also reduce risks and cost variability of major infrastructure programmes and increase reliability of outcomes by enabling greater collaboration during planning, design and delivery. The complexity of the challenges facing both regional and national governments – and the scale and breadth of infrastructure renewal – will demand greater flexibility over the project’s lifespan. For a public transport project, that could mean the flexibility to align with interfacing transport projects in a city to minimise passenger disruption and improve the efficiency and cost of renewal programmes as a whole. It could also mean the flexibility to adapt an operational model to account for changing circumstances over the long lifecycles of many assets.

Unlocking opportunity

From Canada and the USA to the Middle East and Europe, major infrastructure programmes are scaling up to respond to the unprecedented challenges of extreme weather, rising urbanisation, energy demand and technological advances, and to meet climate targets and clean energy goals.

The key to unlocking growth and opportunity through sustainable infrastructure lies in the ability to articulate long-term strategies and build partnerships to secure funding, galvanise supply chains, and put in place the frameworks to move at pace into delivery mode.

The UK can compete on the global market for the finance that will unlock opportunity and deliver on national, regional and local goals, but the next few months will be vital to demonstrate the stability, a clear appetite for delivery, and cement the right conditions for sustainable investment in better outcomes and infrastructure in every region of the country.