In general, it has also been defined as “the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions”.
Soft infrastructure refers to all the institutions that maintain the economic, health, social, and cultural standards of a country. This includes educational programs, official statistics, parks and recreational facilities, law enforcement agencies, and emergency services.
The word infrastructure has been used in French since 1875 and in English since 1887, originally meaning “The installations that form the basis for any operation or system”. The word was imported from French, where it was already used for establishing a roadbed of substrate material, required before railroad tracks or constructed pavement could be laid on top of it. The word is a combination of the Latin prefix “infra”, meaning “below” and many of these constructions are underground, for example, tunnels, water and gas systems, and railways and the French word “structure” .
