Social Infrastructure and Social Capacity Development Among Newcomers to Canada: the Role of Neighborhood Houses in Vancouver

Lauer, Sean; Yan, Miu Chung

doi:10.1007/s12134-021-00842-0

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Social infrastructure affords social connections, supports urban social life, and contributes to people's well-being as well as their mental and physical health (Klinenberg, 2018). Social infrastructure in the form of neighbourhood houses supports the social capacity of newcomers to Canada (Lauer & Chung Yan, 2022), community organizations support connections that combat loneliness among groups of ageing adults in the US (Fried, 2020), and a park in London can support several modalities of sociality, from co-presence to civic engagement (Layton & Latham, 2021). The positive connotations and concerns related to social infrastructure have resonated with scholars in architecture, urban planning, and urban design.…”

Section: The Boundaries and Borders Of Social Infrastructures In Shar...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

Grundström

2022

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The Folkhem era in Sweden set high architectural standards for social infrastructures dispersedly located in cities. Over the past two decades, however, Swedish planning, when it comes to the localization of social infrastructure, has been increasingly characterized by privatized social infrastructures added to housing. Methodologically, this article draws on a compilation of architectural designs of shared housing that includes social infrastructure, 12 interviews with developers, and 22 interviews with residents. The article argues, first, that two historical approaches can be identified: one in which porous borders support urban social life in and around the housing complex and another where distinct boundaries form an edge where things end. Secondly, the article argues that in recent shared housing complexes, the infrastructures of fitness, health care, and privatized services—previously available solely in the public realm—have moved physically and mentally closer to the individual, largely replacing residents’ everyday use of public space. The article concludes that in recent shared housing complexes, ambiguous<em> </em>borders are formed. Ambiguous borders allow a flow of goods and people, but the flow is based on the needs and preferences of residents only. Overall, such privatization counteracts the development of urban social life while adding to housing inequality, as this form of housing is primarily accessible only to the relatively wealthy. Furthermore, there is a risk that urban planning may favour such privatization to avoid maintenance costs, even though the aim of planning for general public accessibility to social infrastructure is thereby shifted towards planning primarily for specific groups.

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Section: The Boundaries and Borders Of Social Infrastructures In Shar...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

Grundström

2022

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“…Social infrastructure has the capacity to facilitate and promote meaningful interaction within and between groups (Davern et al 2017; Klinenberg 2018; Latham and Layton 2019; Lauer and Yan 2021). However, the work in this area has largely been conducted through an urban lens and is limited in the extent to which researchers have attended to the unique histories and patterns of racial and ethnic minorities that may shape these processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Built Environment and Social and Emotional Support among Rural Older Adults: The Case for Social Infrastructure and Attention to Ethnoracial Differences^☆

Rhubart,

Kowalkowski,

Wincott

2023

Rural Sociology

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Social and emotional support (SaES) is essential for older adult mental health and is shaped by individual‐level factors and the built environment. However, much of the focus on the built environment, and specifically social infrastructure—the physical places that facilitate social interaction and social tie formation—relies heavily on urban settings or samples with limited diversity. Consequently, there is little understanding if social infrastructure matters for the SaES of older adults in rural America, and across race and ethnicity. Therefore, we use social cohesion as a conceptual lens and the community gerontology framework to determine whether availability of social infrastructure is associated with SaES among older adults in rural America and whether this relationship varies across race and ethnicity. Using data from 110,850 rural older adults from the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System and data from the National Neighborhood Data Archive, we show that among rural ethnoracial minority older adults, higher densities of social infrastructure are associated with higher SaES. This is not true for rural non‐Hispanic White older adults. Results highlight the importance of accounting for both social infrastructure as part of the built environment and heterogeneity across race and ethnicity in studies that examine older adult mental and emotional health.

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“…Equally as important, diverse friendships introduce new possibilities for those friends and ways of seeing and interacting in the world. A chance to appreciate differences and recognize similarities (Appiah, 2010; Lauer and Yan, 2022). Wessendorf and Phillimore (2019), in their qualitative examination of newcomers in London, find that these connections contribute emotionally to feeling more at home and a sense of rootedness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…My analysis focuses on a single characteristic of cosmopolitan social infrastructure – the ability to bring people with different ancestries into interaction – but there are certainly other qualities of these formal spaces that would contribute to their cosmopolitan character. These may include their organizational culture, leadership qualities, and the types of programs and activities practiced (Lauer, 2021). Similarly, the origins, stability, and vulnerabilities of cosmopolitan associations would likely contribute to managing the interactional space that these organizations provide.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amin (2002) also recognizes the potential of associations, calling them micropublics, where dialogue across boundaries is encouraged over time. Research on diverse neighborhoods has found that community organizations are anchors for making boundary-crossing friendships when they attract diverse participants (Lauer, 2021; Wessendorf, 2016). By bringing together people from varied backgrounds into interaction, cosmopolitan associations have the potential to promote cross-ethnic friendship.…”

Section: Cosmopolitan Social Infrastructure and Immigrant Friendshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cosmopolitan social infrastructure and immigrant cross-ethnic friendship

Lauer

2022

Current Sociology

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How do newcomers make cross-ethnic connections and friendships? This article investigates the role of associations as a location for making cross-ethnic friendships. Cosmopolitan social infrastructure includes public spaces, commercial establishments, and community organizations that attract a diversity of people into interaction. I look specifically at the importance of participation in cosmopolitan associations for cross-ethnic friendship. I approach these questions with an analysis of a nationally representative sample of Canadians collected as part of the Ethnic Diversity Survey. I find that participation in cosmopolitan associations is associated with having cross-ethnic friendship groups. To address the robustness of these findings, I use techniques from both longitudinal and treatment effects analysis. The findings suggest that cosmopolitan social infrastructure contributes to participants’ having cross-ethnic friendship groups.

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Social Infrastructure and Social Capacity Development Among Newcomers to Canada: the Role of Neighborhood Houses in Vancouver

Cited by 6 publications

References 35 publications

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

The Built Environment and Social and Emotional Support among Rural Older Adults: The Case for Social Infrastructure and Attention to Ethnoracial Differences^☆

Cosmopolitan social infrastructure and immigrant cross-ethnic friendship

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Social Infrastructure and Social Capacity Development Among Newcomers to Canada: the Role of Neighborhood Houses in Vancouver

Cited by 6 publications

References 35 publications

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

Shared Housing as Public Space? The Ambiguous Borders of Social Infrastructure

The Built Environment and Social and Emotional Support among Rural Older Adults: The Case for Social Infrastructure and Attention to Ethnoracial Differences☆

Cosmopolitan social infrastructure and immigrant cross-ethnic friendship

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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The Built Environment and Social and Emotional Support among Rural Older Adults: The Case for Social Infrastructure and Attention to Ethnoracial Differences^☆