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Building for tomorrow

This series is all about infrastructure: the invisible layer of wires and guts and light that makes everything run. It’s not in the best shape, but what would it take to make it better?

How do you build a better future? What systems need to be in place to ensure we have the best, most sustainable outcome for the planet? Why is so much stuff broken?

These were the questions we asked ourselves as we outlined this special issue on infrastructure. We know that things like roads and bridges and wastewater treatment facilities are what make modern life possible. But there’s a lot more to our infrastructure that mostly goes unnoticed. So let’s change that.

We explore why the next few years are pivotal for self-driving trucks, look into the broadband industry’s long history with racial discrimination, ask what it will take to get rural Americans to adopt electric vehicles, and investigate the reasons Wi-Fi is so slow in most people’s homes. We also look at some very cool stuff, like space lasers, EV battery recycling, and the enormous triumphs of a simple bike lane.

We’re building for tomorrow. And we’re starting right now.

3D illustration of a sprawling scene of toy trucks, cars, electric chargers, tiny people, bikes, and satellites among a road playset that has yet to be put together properly.
Illustration by Sisi Kim for The Verge

Where are all the robot trucks?

Space lasers!

The battle to stop broadband discrimination has only just begun

The road ahead for EV adoption is made of gravel