ABSTRACT
Much of what has been said up to now takes it for granted that infrastructure ought to be forthcoming, whether pushed by a societal need or driven by an economic demand. There are then issues about how it is provided (the last chapter), and the planning of where it goes and what shape it takes (the next chapter). But there is clearly another question, as to how the need is generated, and how that need is imagined. These in a sense lie underneath or behind the other questions: not how or where, but whether. This chapter looks at these issues. The first part is on the relatively straightforward aspect of the generation of need or demand. This is followed by an exploration of the issues of imaginaries and the subjective aspects of infrastructure, something less easy to be definite about, but still of considerable significance for the way in which infrastructure provision is understood, and therefore for its public acceptability and legitimacy.
