Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life Paperback – September 10, 2019

I’ve listen to this audio book two times through and had to purchase a hard copy to be able to reference and better reflect. As Ive continued with my architectural studies I’ve felt the profession was lacking a humanity not touched upon in my courses. Klinenberg offers an interesting perspective on the relationship between people and place. His message feels relevant. It’s a weight message that left me conflict in our current atmosphere. There are health impacts related to social isolation, especially among the elderly. It just so happens that we’re amidst a global pandemic.Give it a read , you won’t be disappointed.

Find the reason why some communities thrive better compared to neighboring communities. If you are interested in either of the subjects in the headline, you find this book to be interesting, disturbing and help set your priorities. New affordable housing is not enough without social infrastructure.

And Eric Klinenberg is as hardcore a library stan as they come (maybe even too hardcore?).Fun aside, informative, enjoyable, and uplifting read; maybe focusing a bit too much on the social infrastructure sometimes and ignoring some practical problems, but that’s only fair given that often it’s the other way around.

This book is fantastic! Social infrastructure is so very important and Eric Klineberg gave me the best information about our libraries, schools, green space and more. We can be a civil society again and this book contains the formula. This needs to be in the hands of every politician, voter, government official, civic organization leadership and members. Read this book, study this book, make notes, be an advocate and activist. Eric has the answers to being a kind civil society that would be admired globally.

The way I see social infrastructure designed is such that people would bump into each other (in a good way) so that we can interact in a way that we could not individually. It seems that in this country our infrastructure is designed to keep us apart from each other, so we don't have the kind of social interaction that we would have if our environment was constructed in a way to force such interaction. Let's come together through design.

A book all people concerned with the built environment and infrastructure development ought to read!

The book offers some good insight into the ideas of social structures and community. I had to buy the book for school. But I probably would not pay for it on my own accord.

Support your local library.....city planners should read this book

Eric Klinenberg has written a piece of work here that at once illuminates the past and prescribes a path forward for the future. Social infrastructure is the glue that binds us, the social spaces where we gather to Be Better Together. Like our communities themselves, social infrastructure requires maintenance and care, and being part of them is an active process. This book has been a foundation to the work that I've been doing to bring people together and improve our communities, and I'm really thankful to have it!

This is a thrilling book, although I only found it some years after it was first published. Klinenberg writes with urgency and a powerful prose - you know that he really cares about the nature of community, and the elements that go into making it work. I "grew up" on Jane Jacobs' book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", and some reviewers have likened "Palaces for the People" to that classic. I agree; this is a worthy successor, updated to our "current moment". I live in Australia - where we suffer particularly from the impacts of climate change and resultant natural disasters. I found all of the American case studies relevant, timely and appropriate for our experience. Here's an example: following devastating floods in and around Lismore, New South Wales, which destroyed the downtown and thousands of homes, almost all community services and government re-located to the campus of Southern Cross University, which was on "high ground" and not flooded. Social infrastructure in action. Klinenberg wrote the book well in advance of COVID-19, but his analysis and conclusions apply superbly to the COVID experience - areas with strong social infrastructure, community networks and a belief in the "common good" did better than those which did not have those characteristics.

A great non-fiction book about social infrastructure - the locations and programs that join individuals in a community (think public parks, libraries, community centres, churchs, etc).I first heard about this book on a podcast (99 Percent Invisible) and finally got around to reading it recently. There are chapters on parks, natural disasters and climate change (and how outcomes are improved when there is more social infrastructure in a community), health, and others.The conclusion chapter didn't tie everything together as much as would've liked it seemed more like a collection of facts/anecdotes as opposed to a proper conclusion) but otherwise I really enjoyed the book. I learned a lot and have some new ideas to implement into my own life and community.