eprintid: 10076089
rev_number: 35
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/07/60/89
datestamp: 2019-06-18 10:55:33
lastmod: 2021-09-20 00:21:55
status_changed: 2019-11-14 14:49:08
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Latham, A
creators_name: Layton, J
title: Social infrastructure and the public life of cities: Studying urban sociality and public spaces
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
divisions: F26
note: Copyright © 2019 The Authors Geography Compass Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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.
date: 2019-07
date_type: published
publisher: Blackwell Publishing
official_url: http://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12444
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1664277
doi: 10.1111/gec3.12444
lyricists_name: Latham, Alan
lyricists_name: Layton, Jack
lyricists_id: ARLAT03
lyricists_id: JLAYT96
actors_name: Latham, Alan
actors_id: ARLAT03
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Geography Compass
volume: 13
number: 7
article_number: e12444
issn: 1749-8198
citation:        Latham, A;    Layton, J;      (2019)    Social infrastructure and the public life of cities: Studying urban sociality and public spaces.                   Geography Compass , 13  (7)    , Article e12444.  10.1111/gec3.12444 <https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12444>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10076089/1/Latham_et_al-2019-Geography_Compass.pdf