Public works (or
internal improvements historically in the United States) are a broad category of
infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the
government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater
community. They include public buildings (
municipal buildings,
schools,
hospitals),
transport infrastructure (
roads,
railroads,
bridges,
pipelines,
canals,
ports,
airports),
public spaces (
public squares,
parks,
beaches), public services (
water supply,
sewage,
electrical grid,
dams), and other, usually long-term, physical
assets and
facilities. Though often interchangeable with
public infrastructure and
public capital, public works does not necessarily carry an economic component, thereby being a broader term.