The Big Idea
One cannot simply look at a city as just an agglomeration of people and buildings. It is the result of a complex network of interactions that co-exist within a space. These aren't just people to people interactions either. In a city individuals are constantly interacting with their surroundings in a multitude of ways. They drive on roads, take elevators up skyscrapers, and use subways to commute to and from work. Infrastructure provides a way for people to live efficiently and comfortably, such as reaching their destination faster and providing many amenities such as electricity in a home. Every city in the world went through different processes when being developed, and this caused a variation in the way that cities were built. Every city is unique in its own way such as New York's steam system that provides air conditioning, heating, and hot water to around 100,000 homes and businesses. Cities use infrastructure to solve particular problems that they have. For example, the steam system was a result of too much soot coming from individual coal burning furnaces, so electricity producer Con Edison stepped up to the plate. In 1882, the system made its debut by providing steam to a number of residential households and businesses. They later expanded the network into much of lower manhattan.
This is a video of New Yorks steam pipe explosion that happened on July 18, 2007. This is a great example of what happenes when infrastructure is not maintained properly.
What's important to remember is that a city is shaped by the people living and working there. They reflect the culture, economy, and history of that particular place on earth. If all cities looked and worked in the same ways, we wouldn't focus on and be drawn to particular ones. World cities like New York are especially important because they provide many services to the global economy and are considered political nodes. What makes this possible is the infrastructure that is the city itself. While New York infrastructure has been meticulously developed and refined, there are still improvements to be made. If we can study how people interact with infrastructure, we can develop and improve it so that it fits people needs in a better way. There is always room for improvements and the only way to conceive them is to study the existing infrastructure so we know how to make buildings, bridges, energy delivery systems, roads, and infrastructure as a whole safer and more effective.