Infrastructure: How Would You Spend $1.6 Trillion?

“China spends 9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on infrastructure and India budgets 3.5 percent … while aiming to increase its allocation to 8 percent. By comparison, the United States budgets $112.9 billion or just 0.93 percent of its GDP, and sidesteps the reality of a ballooning $1.6 trillion deficit for necessary upgrades over the next five years.”

—Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective

In the report Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective, published last May, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young assess the state of the world's infrastructure as we reach a turning point in world history: For the first time, one out of two people on the planet lives in a city. Now more than ever, effective systems of public infrastructure are crucial for societies' health as populations grow and resources are squeezed. But in many countries, including the United States, public infrastructure is underfunded and under strain. The ULI estimates that it would cost $1.6 trillion to make needed upgrades to America's infrastructure.

Hard problems demand creative solutions, so ARCHITECT asked a range of experts—architects, engineers, planners, nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and critics—how they'd fix America's infrastructure if they had the chance (and $1.6 trillion to spend). Click through the pages for their responses.