Social Infrastructure in Neighbourhoods and Cities : Studying the Facilities That Sustain Community, Social Networks, and Trust.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dirksmeier, Peter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban ecology (Sociology).

Community life.

City planning--Social aspects.

urban environments.

City planning--Social aspects--Case studies.

City planning.

Genre:

Case studies

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Bristol : Bristol University Press, 2026.

Summary:

From parks to pubs, social infrastructures are the everyday places that bring people together. This accessible edited collection offers vivid case studies of how the best shared spaces support social connection and wellbeing.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Notes on Editors and Contributors

Editors

Contributors

Acknowledgements

Part I Introductions

1 Social Infrastructure in Neighbourhoods and Cities

Introduction

Why social infrastructure as a concept

Studying public social life

The importance of social infrastructures

How to navigate the book

Notes

References

2 Introducing the Concept of Social Infrastructure

What is social infrastructure?

Thinking infrastructurally

A social infrastructural approach to public life

The spaces and socialities of social infrastructure

The spaces of social infrastructure

Public institutions

Commercial spaces

Recreational spaces

Religious spaces

Transit spaces

The social registers of social infrastructure

Co-​presence

Sociability and friendship

Care and kinship

Kinaesthetic practices

Carnival and collective experience

Civic engagement

What isn't social infrastructure?

Why does the concept of social infrastructure matter?

Part II The Spaces of Social Infrastructure

3 Public Libraries

Understanding the spaces and scales of a library

The German library landscape

Our research in and on libraries

Public libraries in Germany as social infrastructure

Libraries from the staff's point of view

Libraries from the user's point of view

Libraries value in and for society

Conclusion

4 Parks

Why parks and greenspaces matter for wellbeing

Researching pathways to wellbeing in London's parks

Conceptualising and researching wellbeing

Social infrastructures of wellbeing

Socio-​material infrastructures

Socio-​material infrastructuring

References.

5 Public Squares

Diversity in public space: what it is and why it matters

Studying social diversity in three public squares in Zurich

How were the squares used?

Who was using the squares?

6 Schools

'An Even Better Arbourthorne'

Anchoring social infrastructure

Activating social infrastructure

Animating social infrastructure

Discussion

7 Coworking Spaces

History and evolution of coworking spaces

A community-​centred model

Community centred coworking as social infrastructure

Coworking and six registers of sociality

Socio-​material encounters

8 Pubs, Cafes, Bars

Taverns, public houses, and the socialities of drink

Other hospitality spaces, different spaces for different communities

Chain restaurants, the surprising sociality of the middle brow

Experiments in hospitality

9 Allotments

What is an allotment?

More than "just" a place to grow

Cultivating community and the benefits of allotments

Lizzie's allotment

Part III The Social Life of Social Infrastructure

10 Civic Organising

Background on social infrastructure and civic environmental stewardship

How we did our research

How stewardship groups activate and transform green, blue, and grey outdoor spaces

Highly connected broker: citywide advocacy and base-​building for park support among New Yorkers

Moderately connected node: strengthening Black women's wellbeing through running and building community in a Brooklyn neighbourhood

Less connected group -​ organising dog owners for advocacy and stewardship in a Brooklyn park

11 Pickup Sports

Our pickup sports fieldwork

Phases of interaction

Developing and sustaining confidence in the scene

Managing order and solving problems

Developing a reputation

Making it fun

Deepening and extending relations

The benefits and risks of formalising

12 Social Networks

Social infrastructures and social networks

Using network thinking to study neighbourhoods and social infrastructure

Mapping and illustrating social infrastructure

13 Older People

Older people and social infrastructure

Researching social infrastructure during the pandemic

Experiences of social infrastructure during the pandemic

The loss of infrastructures of support

Transferring from physical to virtual infrastructures

Periphery spaces between home and neighbourhood

Note

14 Youth Social Infrastructure

What is youth social infrastructure and why is it valuable?

Enabling factors for successful youth social infrastructure

Inclusion and youth ownership

'Extended families' in youth social infrastructure

Nested (not inserted), developing through organic innovation

Peer relationships and relational care from trusted adults

The erosion of youth social infrastructure

The rise of youth interventions

Prevailing modes of evaluation

Thriving against the odds? Hackney Quest as youth social infrastructure

The future of youth social infrastructure

Part IV Making Social Infrastructure

15 Play Streets

Play

Social infrastructures and play

Providing social infrastructures

The play streets model

On the day

Beyond and in between play streets

Struggles for play streets

Conclusion.

Notes

16 Designing Space for Teen Girls

Our approach

Lingering spaces

A place to do nothing

A place to do something

Safe spaces

A place to see or sense

A place to be seen or sensed

17 Walkable Streets

Rethinking streets as physical and social infrastructure

Case studies in reclaiming streets

Slow Streets: Oakland, CA

Open Streets: New York, NY

Shared spaces and Parklets: San Francisco, CA

18 The Making, Unmaking and Remaking of Social Infrastructure

Background and context: Sacriston in the shadow of deindustrialisation

Sacriston, a moral community and the making of social infrastructure

Crisis, "root shock", and the unmaking of social infrastructure

Remaking local social infrastructure and "radical hope"

Moving forward: social infrastructure made possible by stakeholders for the community

PART V Social Infrastructure and Public Issues

19 Responses to Covid-​19

How practice theories can help to unpack the varied sociality of urban infrastructures

Our fieldwork during the Covid-​19 pandemic

Coffee and Covid-​19: how caf é s withered away to 'take-​away' places

Rules and affective structures in the development of Covid-​19-​related practices

20 Low Traffic Neighbourhoods

Motonormativity in the urban streetscape

Reconfiguring and contesting motonormativity, tales from the UK

School Streets as social infrastructures

21 Changing Use of Libraries

Libraries as shifting civic institutions in Aotearoa

Introducing two flagship library projects.

Re-​tooling the library as social infrastructure

Embracing social infrastructure: the expansionists

Defending the book: the traditionalists

22 Social Infrastructures After Disasters

The evolving landscape of sports facilities in Christchurch

Post-​earthquake disruption and damage

Contesting government decisions: the local embeddedness of sports facilities

23 Policy Making and Social Infrastructure

The difficulty of definition(s)

Making the characteristics of social infrastructure legible to a policy audience

The policy implications of taking a characteristics-​based approach

A framework for policy makers

Part VI Conclusions

24 The Future of Social Infrastructure Research

Starting with social infrastructure

Where next for social infrastructure research?

Spaces of social infrastructure

Social lives of social infrastructure

Making social infrastructure

Social infrastructure and public issues

25 Afterword

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-5292-4162-6

OCLC:

1587074578