40 trillion dollars will be invested, over the next two decades, in bridging the global deficit in environmental infrastructure—transport, energy, and water. Advanced industrial economies confront aging infrastructure. In developing countries, where infrastructure is scarce, three billion people will be added to cities by 2050—mainly in slums of Africa and Asia—further exacerbating urban environmental degradation. This course examines old and new theories of environmental infrastructure policy and planning: (1) role of the state; (2) privatization (its rationale, methods, outcomes) and; (3) alternate theories for institutional reform with a focus on strict and weak equity and efficiency trade-offs. Drawing on global case studies of infrastructure sectors we will explores solutions to 21st century environmental challenges of rapid urbanization in some places, and economic growth during fiscal austerity in others. Requirement for the MS, Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management with an area of concentration in Policy. Elective in the Milano School Global Urban Futures and Leading Sustainability Areas of Specialization, as well as the Cities and Social Justice Concentration for the Masters in International Affairs.