Social Infrastructure
INFRASTRUCTURE
Recorded by Sofie Pelsmakers, images by Essi Nisonen
KEY READINGS
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, Eric Klinenberg, Penguin
Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space, Gehl, Danish Architectural Press
Resilience in the built environment: Key characteristics for solutions to multiple crises, Castaño-Rosa, Raúl, et al., Sustainable Cities and Society, Vol. 87, 104259, 12.2022.
Designing for the Climate Emergency, a Guide for Architecture Students, Pelsmakers, S., Donovan, E., Hoggard, A., Kozminska, U., RIBA
INSPIRATIONAL BUILT EXAMPLES
Barcelona Superblocks, Spain
Rozana Montiel, Common Unity, Mexico City, Mexico
Zav architects, habitat for orphan girls, Iran
Assemble Studio, Granby Four Streets, Liverpool, UK
Helen & Hard, Vindmollebakken Housing, Stavanger, Norway
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Social infrastructure encourages the connection and coming together of people and this includes formal and informal public & private spaces and places that provide opportunities for people to interact with each other in their everyday lives. Social infrastructures supports the building of social capital in the community; this in turn reduces conflict and increases trust, care, connection and feelings of safety. This helps to build individual and community resilience and health and well-being. In your project, always consider what kind of spaces can bring people together from different walks of life and how you can create links with the existing communities. Be careful to impact the existing social spheres positively and not negatively i.e. restorative actions. Ensure that the social infrastructure you suggest answers to the needs of people and are adaptable to their changing needs in the future, otherwise they will not meet needs and remain unused – so undertake inclusive and democratic processes. Always prioritise inclusion of social infrastructure in each and every project, including retrofitting of social infrastructure as the societal, community and individual benefits are significant.