ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the success of infrasystems can be summarized in the words: cheap, convenient and reliable. It deals with mental, legal and other immaterial frameworks forming barriers for people changing their habits and lifestyles in an environmentally sustainable direction. The chapter suggests that a prerequisite for redirecting infrasystems towards sustainability is an understanding of their developments in the past and of their influence on settlement patterns. A common characteristic of infrasystems is that they facilitate movements of different kinds. The institutional shaping of an infrasystem can be seen as the result of an encounter between technology and society. A first lesson is that infrasystems are socio-technical systems, in which the institutional frameworks and the system culture are as important as the technical components. In the public debate, there is generally a lack of understanding of the importance of these 'soft' parts of infrasystems and a strong belief in 'technical fixes'.
