Poll finds strong public backing for new infrastructure

Undertaken by Ipsos Mori with the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA), the 2020 Global Infrastructure Index is hailed as the largest global survey of its kind looking at how people view infrastructure and investment.

In the UK, the top-ranked investment priorities were found to be flood defences, rail infrastructure and solar energy. Airports came bottom, both in the UK and globally.

Among the other findings, 69% believe the UK government should prioritise infrastructure investment as part of the Covid-19 economic recovery, with just 8% disagreeing; while 83% agreed that investment in infrastructure will create new jobs and boost the economy – only 2% disagreed.

Also seeing a boost was support for private investment: 65% were in favour if it meant Britain got the infrastructure it deserved, while only 9% opposed.

Globally, 59% of people polled thought their government was not doing enough to meet infrastructure needs. In the UK, this figure was 65% while for all G8 countries it was 57%.

The figures tend to suggest that overall, the public values the benefits of infrastructure and that schemes such as HS2 may be more popular than is suggested by some sections of the media, lobby groups and not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) groups.

The online poll surveyed 19,516 people across 27 countries from 24 July – 7 August 2020. In the UK, 1002 people were polled.