I’ve spent most of my professional life arguing that how we design our cities says something about what we believe — about each other, about public life, and about what kind of places we think people deserve.

That’s why I was glad to see this book come to life. In Ethical Infrastructure, Larry Summers makes a case that builds on what many of us have been saying for years: that infrastructure is never neutral. Every curb, pipe, permit, and policy reflects a set of values — whether we name them or not.

Larry is one of the rare municipal engineers who can talk about curb radii, stormwater detention, and pedestrian dignity in the same breath — and mean every word. His work in New Albany showed what’s possible when someone inside the system decides to ask deeper questions. What does a sidewalk signal? Who is this crossing for? What story does a street tell when it’s built one way versus two?

That last question came up in a project we worked on together — a downtown street conversion that ultimately made its way into Walkable City Rules. That project is referenced again here, in the chapter The Myth of the Neutral Manual, as an example of how even the most routine infrastructure decisions carry moral weight.

His chapter on The Sidewalk Contract especially stuck with me. It’s a quiet provocation: what if sidewalks weren’t just concrete pathways, but civic agreements — design promises that say “you matter” to the people who walk them? That’s the kind of framing we need more of. Because the technical work we do — in engineering, in planning, in public works — is often where the most intimate, everyday moral choices get made.

Ethical Infrastructure gives name and language to a kind of professional instinct many of us have felt but rarely had words for. It’s not a manual. It’s a map — one that helps practitioners navigate complexity with a bit more clarity, humility, and care.

I’m glad Larry wrote it. And I hope it finds its way into the hands of people who design and decide — not just because it will make their work better, but because it will help them lead with more conscience — and more courage.

Jeff Speck

<p style="font-weight: 400;">City Planner and Urban Designer</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Author of Walkable City and Walkable City Rules</p>