Social Infrastructure

Abstract

In Partnership With • #GPMayors #GPMSummit #TransformingTogether #GPMDemocracy • Social Infrastructure is the very fabric of a well-functioning city, the foundation of public space and public life. It is an aspect of urban life that has suffered much in the Covid-19 pandemic, and, in many cities, from policies of austerity in the decade following the financial crisis. The successful rebuilding of social infrastructure will be key to achieving many of the goals set out in the Global Parliament of Mayors 2020 Roadmap, with its ambitions to develop more ecologically sensitive, socially inclusive and democratic cities. In a time of great movement of peoples around the world, it will also be a necessary factor in generating a welcoming and inclusive urban environment for new migrants to the city. While infrastructure has long been understood to encompass water, energy, road, rail, and communication networks, Social Infrastructure covers such diverse components of the urban fabric as parks and green spaces, sidewalks and roads, housing, transportation, public amenities, public squares, museums, galleries, libraries, points of digital connectivity, places of worship.