New report by the Bennett Institute and Power to Change examines the role of the private sector in providing social infrastructure – those vital spaces and places that bring people together and sustain communities.
This report examines the role of the private sector in the provision of social infrastructure – those vital spaces and places that bring people together and sustain communities – and how local communities can shape these spaces.
The research project, funded by and delivered in partnership with Power to Change, examines forms of private sector social infrastructure that are in essence ‘unplanned’, as well as community spaces that are deliberately planned in urban redevelopments or through the repurposing of existing space. Having looked closely at the motivations of these actors, we found that an increasing number of private owners believe that there is a considerable economic, as well as social, value in creating or maintaining good-quality social infrastructure, and many are keen to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with communities and local authorities to deliver it.
The role of the private sector in delivering social infrastructure offers a significant – and currently underappreciated – opportunity for policymakers in the context of increasing financial constraints for the public sector and the steady decline of social spaces, particularly in poorer communities. What is also clear from our research is that to provide social spaces that are sustainable in the long term and are valuable to local people, the private sector must actively pursue partnerships with the public sector and community-led organisations, who are best placed to understand and deliver on local needs.
By broadening our understanding of the agents responsible for social infrastructure and highlighting creative approaches to its provision, we hope to encourage a new model of social infrastructure delivery that foregrounds collaboration between the private sector, public sector, and local communities, and which would lead to better quality, and better maintained, community spaces.
Read report: Private space, public good: working together to deliver social infrastructure
Briefing document for: a) central government; b) local government; c) private sector
Read blog: Private space, public good: working together to deliver social infrastructure
