The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Third Places, Stanley Cup Mania, and the Epidemic of Loneliness
youtube.comWhat counts as social infrastructure? I define it capaciously. Public institutions, such as libraries, schools, playgrounds, parks, athletic fields, and swimming pools, are vital parts of the social infrastructure. So too are sidewalks, courtyards, community gardens, and other green spaces that invite people into the public realm. Community organiz
... See moreEric Klinenberg • Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
A place-based intervention that leads to the greater desirability of a place—such as the expansion of transit, the greening of small park spaces, or the creating of a business improvement district—could also foster new housing or condominium developments, which would then increase the population in an area. Yet if an area doesn’t have a school syst
... See moreJohn MacDonald • Changing Places: The Science and Art of New Urban Planning
Proponents of parks, like the advocates of urban planning, struggled to articulate a rationale for what was a rather novel political idea in the laissez-faire era of politics in the United States. Developing parks required all the tactics we currently use in our modern urban planning apparatus: the condemnation and taking of private property for pu
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