He does a disservice to his subject and his readers by pretending that both Democrats and Republicans care equally about funding social infrastructure. I think this is a good book for probably someone extremely new to the intersection of planning and society but otherwise falls flat for folks like myself looking for more grit and boldness in approach when addressing inequities. He describes an initiative in Brooklyn libraries where older people can play in virtual bowling leagues as a way of getting them out of their homes and meeting people. Indeed, if you made the background of the book its foreground, it would be a devastating portrayal of fragmentation, despair and disruption.

Other critical factors include equitable job opportunities, economic development/growth, transparent and truthful news reporting, building trust, etc. Eric Klinenberg is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute of Public Knowledge at New York University. At a time when polarization is weakening our democracy, Eric Klinenberg takes us on a tour of the physical spaces that bind us together and form the basis of civic life. A comprehensive, entertaining, and compelling argument for how rebuilding social infrastructure can help heal divisions in our society and move us forward. Libraries are the kinds of places where ordinary people with different backgrounds, passions, and interests can take part in a living democratic culture.What responsibility do large companies have as they expand into preexisting neighborhoods and communities? He finds similar possibilities in churches, mosques and other religious buildings and public swimming pools; he devotes some of the more speculative parts of the book to imagining what new “social infrastructure” might be needed to cope with climate change. Richly reported and ultimately uplifting, Palaces for the People offers a blueprint for bridging our seemingly unbridgeable divides.

Which are the most pressing issues and how is the United States currently addressing these issues in various communities? Communities with strong social capital—as evidenced by the density of civic organizations and rates at which citizens voted—are more likely to be insulated from the crisis. This book is about more than libraries but (unsurprisingly) I found the sections on libraries to be the most interesting and inspiring. They’re joined by Kate Pahl, Professor of Arts and Literacy at Manchester Metropolitan University and Katie Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at the University of the West of England. As of 2016, more than twelve million Americans aged sixty-five and above live by themselves, and the ranks of those who are aging alone is growing steadily in much of the world.From the outset, Klinenberg makes the distinction between social infrastructure (libraries, schools, churches, parks, etc. They are vivid examples of those “third places,” the small, warm, intimate settings where people in public can feel like they’re at home.

I would be fascinated to discover that it is, in fact, achieving such a thing in New York, but the evidence isn’t there. But this is a consequential over­sight, because the built environment—and not just cultural preferences or the existence of voluntary organizations—influences the breadth and depth of our associations. After all, places like libraries are saturated with strangers, people whose bodies are different, whose styles are different, who make different sounds, speak different languages, give off different, sometimes noxious, smells. People forge bonds in places that have healthy social infrastructures—not because they set out to build community, but because when people engage in sustained, recurrent interaction, particularly while doing things they enjoy, relationships inevitably grow. There, he discovered that the likelihood of death or illness from the heat related not only to deprivation and social position, as might be expected, but also to the physical form and condition of the neighbourhood – “bombed-out” areas, with vacant lots and ragged streets, made their residents’ chances worse.

This leads us to the question of ownership, and places where this book won’t go – harder measures, such as nationalisation, that could keep social infrastructure social, and keep public spaces public. The Philadelphia studies suggest that place-based interventions are far more likely to succeed than people-based projects. Yes, he wants to appeal to readers of every political persuasion, but come on – it’s pretty obvious who he votes for, and who most readers would vote for.

Community organizations, including churches and civic associations, act as social infrastructures when they have an established physical space where people can assemble, as do regularly scheduled markets for food, furniture, clothing, art, and other consumer goods.Before we lift the next shovel, we should know what we want to improve, what we need to protect, and, more important, what kind of society we want to create for our post-COVID 19 world. Eric Klinenberg is Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University.