Geography Compass· 2019Q1
Social infrastructure and the public life of cities: Studying urban sociality and public spaces
- 495citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2019year
Short summary
The concept of "social infrastructure" offers a framework for researching and valuing overlooked urban spaces like libraries, laundrettes, and plazas that foster public life and sociality.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Introduces "social infrastructure" as a concept to research and value urban spaces that contribute to public life.
- Identifies spaces like libraries, laundrettes, plazas, and playgrounds as key components of social infrastructure.
- Integrates four strands of social scientific inquiry: infrastructure, publicness/public space, sociality/encounter, and politics of provision.
- Argues that an infrastructural approach offers productive tools for geographers to study the public life of cities.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Libraries, laundrettes, and lidos. Pizzerias, plazas, and playgrounds. Sidewalks, swimming pools, and schools. These are just some of the kinds of spaces and facilities that contribute to the public life of cities. Drawing on the arguments of the sociologist Eric Klinenberg, this article develops the concept of “social infrastructure” as a way to research and value these kinds of spaces. Social infrastructure helps in recognising the public dimensions of often overlooked and undervalued spaces. It draws attention to the breadth, depth, and textures of sociality that can be afforded by different urban environments. In developing the concept of social infrastructure, this article pulls together four related strands of social scientific inquiry: work on infrastructure; publicness and public space; sociality and encounter; and the politics of provision. An infrastructural approach to the topic of public space presents geographers with some productive tools for understanding the public life of cities.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Geography Compass, 2019 · DOI ↗
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Field: Urban Studies
Urban StudiesSocial Sciences