Abstract

EDITORIAL “Today, I cross this city, this bridge, still spanning the silent distance between us The Speed of with the memory of a father and son holding hands, secretly in love.” Urbanizing —Richard Blanco Marci S. Uihlein, Executive Editor University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign In his poem “Papa’s Bridge,” Richard Blanco, inaugural poet and civil engineer, shares how a bridge was impressed upon his life. Blanco first viewed the bridge from his father’s hospital room where, as a child, he spent days by his father’s side. The bridge signifies Blanco’s father’s dream of his son becoming an engineer. Blanco’s commute over the bridge brings him reminders of his father’s love and loss. The bridge’s mean- ing grows as Blanco does, and the memory of the bridge accompanies Blanco through his life. Importantly, this poem reminds us how urban infrastructure shapes our daily human existence. Infrastructure is intimately tied to urbanization and the human condition both in physical and social forms. Public transportation, bridges, and bypasses enable the mobility of people and goods. Essential services are provided by electrical grids, water distribution, and sewage treatment. The financial, educational, and cultural systems of cities are critical to the well-being of