Over the course of a year, Gehl led a multidisciplinary team of US practitioners on three learning exchanges to Belfast, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo to uncover relevant lessons and models to foster and sustain high-quality social infrastructure in the U.S. Efforts to shape and sustain social infrastructure too often focus on what social infrastructure is, rather than what it does. This research puts forth an outcomes-first framework for supporting a complete social infrastructure network, with: havens (spaces to gather around shared identity); hubs (spaces to connect across different backgrounds); and hangouts (spaces to just be). By re-centering outcomes, this framework helps practitioners think more holistically about social infrastructure networks in their communities.
