Infrastructure disruptions, from daily traffic accidents to major power outages, are an everyday concern in both developed and developing countries. Not only do infrastructure disruptions affect people’s well-being and quality of life, but they also undermine businesses, job creation and economic prospects. Resilient infrastructure, on the other hand, can be a lifeline to better health, education and livelihoods, and is necessary to maintain economic development and prosperity.
Building on the World Bank’s operational and analytical work, this report offers evidence that inadequate or deferred maintenance of infrastructure assets have costs and repercussions that affect the growth and well-being of people, firms and economic systems as a whole. Regular maintenance is an essential contributor to infrastructure resilience.
The report highlights that more spending alone is not sufficient, unless it is accompanied by new approaches in planning, costing and delivering maintenance, operations and repairs. In doing so, it draws lessons from private participation in infrastructure. It also identifies synergies and trade-offs that come to play when pursuing infrastructure maintenance as the global economies enter the post-COVID recovery phase.