Third place social infrastructure, after and in crisis: insights from a local case study

Kelly Bogue; Sinead Ouillon

doi:10.1332/DGKX7851

Third place social infrastructure, after and in crisis: insights from a local case study

Kelly Bogue, Sinead Ouillon

Research Centre for Peace and Security

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

103 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Following the 2008 global financial crisis, Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) have become a common feature of the urban landscape in cities throughout Europe. An emerging body of literature suggests that Fab Labs go beyond providing access to digital fabrication tools, and function as ‘third places’ as they enhance social connectedness. Drawing on a case study of a Fab Lab in the English city of Coventry, this article utilises the concept of ‘austerity urbanism’ to understand the changing nature of third places in England since the 2008 global financial crash. In doing so, we argue that a confluence of austerity urbanism and digital advancements has influenced both the emergence of new third places (such as Fab Labs) while simultaneously undermining long-established third places (such as libraries). As a result, vital aspects of social infrastructure are being shaped and reshaped in the contemporary era. The article reflects on what these changes mean for individual and community well-being.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33-50
Number of pages	18
Journal	Global Social Challenges
Volume	2
Issue number	2
Early online date	6 Jan 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1332/DGKX7851
Publication status	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits adaptation,
alteration, reproduction and distribution without further permission provided the
original work is attributed. The derivative works do not need to be licensed on the same terms.

Funder

This work was part funded by the ERDF through the Urban Innovation Action’s initiative (UIA02-320) and the ESF (06S20P04146).

Funding

This work was part funded by the ERDF through the Urban Innovation Action\u2019s initiative (UIA02-320) and the ESF (06S20P04146).

Funders	Funder number
European Regional Development Fund	UIA02-320
European Regional Development Fund
European Union	06S20P04146
European Union

Keywords

Fab Labs
Third places
Well-being
Austerity Urbanism
Social Innovation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1332/DGKX7851Licence: CC BY

PublishedFinal published version, 600 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Third place social infrastructure, after and in crisis: insights from a local case study",

abstract = "Following the 2008 global financial crisis, Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) have become a common feature of the urban landscape in cities throughout Europe. An emerging body of literature suggests that Fab Labs go beyond providing access to digital fabrication tools, and function as {\textquoteleft}third places{\textquoteright} as they enhance social connectedness. Drawing on a case study of a Fab Lab in the English city of Coventry, this article utilises the concept of {\textquoteleft}austerity urbanism{\textquoteright} to understand the changing nature of third places in England since the 2008 global financial crash. In doing so, we argue that a confluence of austerity urbanism and digital advancements has influenced both the emergence of new third places (such as Fab Labs) while simultaneously undermining long-established third places (such as libraries). As a result, vital aspects of social infrastructure are being shaped and reshaped in the contemporary era. The article reflects on what these changes mean for individual and community well-being.",

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KW - Social Innovation

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Third place social infrastructure, after and in crisis: insights from a local case study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this