When the Ground Beneath Shifts: Understanding the Temporal Fragility of Infrastructure

Harlequin Antbird

13-10-2025

Zhuang breathes in the fresh air, feeling the Dao flow through his chest... 
“Perhaps,” he whispers, “the fish I chase are not the river’s fish, but my own dream?” 
“The fish I catch,” adds Kingfisher, “are gifts of the river—offered when I become this very river.”

In Kingfisherish Wandering [1]

© Wix

Infrastructures—roads, bridges, power grids, and data centers—are often seen as symbols of permanence and progress [2]. Yet, as Kavita Ramakrishnan, Kathleen O’Reilly, and Jessica Budds [3] reveal, these structures are far from timeless. Their study challenges the illusion of durability that modern societies attach to built systems, showing how infrastructures are entangled with time—aging, decaying, and transforming along with the societies they serve.

Drawing from urban studies and political ecology [4,5], the authors argue that infrastructures embody temporal fragility. They are constructed to endure yet are constantly vulnerable to decay, neglect, and socio-environmental change. Whether it is the corrosion of bridges, the obsolescence of digital networks, or the flooding of cities under climate stress, each example reveals how infrastructures depend on continual maintenance and social attention to stay functional.

Crucially, Kavita Ramakrishnan, Kathleen O’Reilly, and Jessica Budds [3] reject the idea of infrastructure as a static background. Instead, they describe it as a process of repair and renewal, embedded in cycles of human labor, political decision-making, and environmental feedback. The study underscores that temporal fragility is not just technical but moral and ecological—a reminder that what societies choose to sustain, repair, or abandon reflects their values and priorities over time.

While fragility is often viewed as a flaw, it can be viewed as a form of temporal consciousness [6]. It forces societies to confront impermanence and interdependence. This awareness aligns deeply with the concept of Nature Quotient (NQ)—the ability to recognize the dynamic relationships between human systems and the natural world [7]. Understanding infrastructure as impermanent can nurture higher NQ, cultivating respect for ecological rhythms rather than domination over them.

From this perspective, embracing fragility becomes a pathway to individual and social peace [8]. On a personal level, it invites humility—recognizing that even the most advanced technologies are transient. At a societal level, it encourages cooperative stewardship, where care and repair replace the pursuit of endless construction. In a fragile world, peace emerges not from control or permanence but from attunement, reciprocity, and mindful coexistence with both built and natural systems.

References

[1] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[2] Gupta A. (2018). The future in ruins: Thoughts on the temporality of infrastructure. In Anand N, Gupta A, Appel H. (eds). The Promise of Infrastructure. Duke University Press, pp. 62-79.

[3] Ramakrishnan K, O’Reilly K, Budds J. (2020). The temporal fragility of infrastructure: Theorizing decay, maintenance, and repair. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 4(3), 674-695. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620979712

[4] Doshi S. (2017). Embodied urban political ecology: Five propositions. Area, 49(1), 125-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12293 

[5] Silver J. (2016). Disrupted infrastructures: An urban political ecology of interrupted electricity in Accra. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39(5), 984-1003. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12317

[6] Dainton B. (2023). Temporal consciousness. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-temporal/

[7] Vuong QH, Nguyen MH. (2025). On Nature Quotient. Pacific Conservation Biology, 31, PC25028. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC25028

[8] Nguyen MH, Ho MT, La VP. (2025). On “An” (安): Inner peace through uncertainty, nature quotient, and harmony with Dao. http://books.google.com/books/about?id=NIKMEQAAQBAJ