Supporting Social Infrastructure in London
By Dr. Alex Prior, SIRLN
On 24 February, following the GLA’s launch of the Connective Social Infrastructure report, we sat down with a range of local authority practitioners to discuss how local authorities can support social infrastructure in London. We timed our event on Supporting Social Infrastructure so that our Networks participants could benefit both from taking part in the official launch but also to explore aspects of the report more in depth in a workshop that followed the main event.
Shona Scales (Senior Project Officer Regeneration and Economic development, GLA) and Ellie Howard (Senior Project Officer Regeneration, GLA) provided a brief recap of the report, which was commissioned by the GLA Social Integration, Regeneration and London Plan teams (with Mayor’s Design Advocates). The report, research undertaken by Social Life’s Nicola Bacon and Hawkins\Brown’s Ketki Mudholkar focuses on providing a better understanding and re-definition of the concept.
Within this new understanding, social infrastructure, together with various design tactics such as co-location, the social front door and participatory approaches, contribute to inclusive growth and social integration in London. The report is, in its own right, intended as a first step (and catalyst) for these processes.
As Shona and Ellie attested, a starting point for the report was the original definition of social infrastructure in the London Plan:
[social infrastructure] covers facilities such as health provision, early years provision, schools, colleges and universities, community, recreation and sports facilities, places of worship, policing and other criminal justice or community safety facilities, children and young people’s play and informal recreation facilities.
The Connective Social Infrastructure Report sought to build on this concept, capturing a more nuanced understanding of the term, incorporating formal and informal spaces such as barbershops and GP surgeries.
Gascoyne Residents Association was cited as a positive example of ‘soft’ social infrastructure, and libraries as ‘hard’ infrastructure. Lessons were drawn from a wide range of international examples, such as St Joseph’s Home in Singapore, which provides an intergenerational model of support (incorporates care for the elderly with childcare).
The design of buildings and spaces can contribute to effective social infrastructure. For example, the absence of a reception desk in a building can create a more welcoming space (though security concerns must also be considered). TheReport discusses how specific elements (including the price of coffee and signage design) can affect engagement, participation, and the function of a space for an intended group.
Local authorities can lead the way in social infrastructure; they have an in-depth understanding of the local environment. On a broader level, successful social infrastructure demands an inclusive conversation at all levels, with policymakers and local authorities in open dialogue.
This, in itself, raises crucial questions. The importance of inclusivity notwithstanding, ‘designs for everyone’ can be very bland as spaces, while there is a vital role for ostensibly ‘exclusive’ spaces in bolster community strength and capacity.
In their discussion of the ‘social infrastructure ecosystem’ (comprising a range of provision, services and supports — whether open or targeted), Shona and Ellie outlined an expanded definition of social infrastructure:
a range of services and facilities that meet local and strategic needs and contribute towards a good quality of life, facilitating new and supporting existing relationships, encouraging participation and civic action, overcoming barriers and mitigating inequalities, and together contributing to resilient communities. Alongside more formal provision of services, there are informal networks and community supports that play an important role in the lives of Londoners.
In realising social infrastructure’s potential for social integration, Shona and Ellie outlined ‘areas of action’, as a circular relationship between policy, translation and participation, design, delivery and funding, management and operation, and evidence.
The discussion then turned to the High Streets for All challenge, a call for development of high street partnerships, potentially bringing in ‘anchor institutions’ such as education and healthcare providers, civil society, community groups. Adopting a broad definition of the term ‘high street’ (incorporating large high streets and small ‘parade’ areas), the challenge is a call for experimental approaches with a focus on problem-solving.
The process consists of three key stages:
1. Putting your high street on the map [a call to London Boroughs for proposals of partnership ideas, encouraging wide participation from London’s communities]
2. Gathering around the flag [providing selected locations with seed funding to help realise their strategy]
3. Drawing up the strategy [revenue funding for 10–15 projects that are dynamic and reflect local priorities, with further funding for up to 5 of those projects]
In the plenary discussion, participants drew on existing projects that were relevant to the objectives of the High Streets for All challenge, such as the Newham High Streets project. This addressed a broader point: that it is important to draw attention to existing efforts, and to gain a better understanding of the infrastructure(s) they address. Recommendations included a GLA audit on this topic, to identify what works and what can be built on, to provide a platform for future research.
These discussions addressed the current lack of consensus in how social infrastructure can be ‘mapped’, and how specific nuances can be captured (not all barbershops provide social infrastructure, for example). Participants spoke of the need for the planning process to adopt a more holistic view of social infrastructure (i.e., seeing formal and informal types as part of a whole). More broadly, key questions were identified, such as the connections between the formal and the informal. These connections — and their impact — were acknowledged as complex, but vital to understanding “what is happening on the street.”
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Our next event takes place on 17 March (2–4pm) and focuses on tackling ‘regeneration stigma’. We hope to see you there. As always, we benefit enormously from hearing about your experiences of regeneration, community engagement and inclusion. Sign up for the network here and tell us about your ongoing projects at socialintegration.learning@londonmet.ac.uk.
