Palaces for the people: How social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life

Eric Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at NYU, makes a strong argument for the crucial importance of “social infrastructure” for the well-being of our communities. His interest in the subject spiked when he analyzed the statistics relating to the devastating heat wave in Chicago in 1995 which killed over 800 people. Why would two adjacent poor neighborhoods in Chicago’s south side, have such radically different death rates? Englewood’s death rate was ten times higher than that of neighboring Auburn Gresham. Klinenberg’s meticulous research revealed that social infrastructure (places where people could form connections with others) was the key component in survival. Isolated people trying to fend for themselves experienced much lower survival rates.