At a glance
Social and cultural infrastructure refers to the spaces, services and structures that bring people together, and that can strengthen the social and cultural fabric of our communities.
Brought into focus by the British Academy’s work on Cohesive Societies and the COVID Decade evidence review and policy reports, our work examines how this infrastructure can be understood and utilised by policymakers and others to reframe policy debates and to help achieve a range of policy aims.
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Phase 1: Defining and exploring social and cultural infrastructure
The British Academy and Power to Change came together in early 2022 to collectively explore questions relating to social infrastructure and its value to different communities.
The two organisations jointly commissioned the Institute for Community Studies (ICS) and the Bennett Institute at the University of Cambridge to undertake two related research projects.
The first of these explored examples of international policy interventions that aim to strengthen social infrastructure to draw out learning for UK policymakers.
The second involved peer research into community definitions and understandings of social infrastructure in England. The research sat alongside a series of roundtables aimed at exploring the importance of social infrastructure for key policy challenges including Levelling Up, COVID recovery and access to digital infrastructure.
In January 2023, 'Space for Community: Strengthening our Social Infrastructure' brought together the findings of these two research projects. The report aims to deepen our understanding of social infrastructure, and so give policymakers (national, regional and local), civil society leaders, and communities themselves the insights needed to strengthen this infrastructure and help meet current and future challenges.
The report explores three aspects of social infrastructure:
- the use of social infrastructure to support the social fabric of places
- treating social infrastructure as an infrastructure
- defining the purpose of social infrastructure
Phase 2: Measuring and valuing social and cultural infrastructure
The British Academy’s work in this area explores how social and cultural infrastructure can best be measured and valued, and what role different institutions and sectors play in creating, supporting and enhancing this infrastructure.
It aims to deepen our understanding of social and cultural infrastructure, to explore its different dimensions and its value in relation to distinct policy areas, aims and challenges.
You will find the main outputs from phase 2 of the programme listed below.
Measuring Social and Cultural Infrastructure
This report considers how social and cultural infrastructure can be identified in relation to some of the characteristics associated with all kinds of infrastructure. It then explores the challenge of measuring social and cultural infrastructure, and develops a framework for measuring the critical, yet often overlooked, assets, facilities and spaces of which it is formed.
Young people and social and cultural infrastructure
The British Academy initially commissioned London Development Trust to carry out a research project investigating young people’s views and needs in relation to social and cultural infrastructure in London. This phase of research consisted of four focus groups held across four diverse London communities.
A second phase of the project, which extended the research to seven sites across the UK, concluded in Autumn 2025. This phase of the research aimed to explore regional and demographic variations, investigate and deepen our knowledge of insights from the first phase, and to refine the card deck method developed in the first phase as a co-creative tool for decision making with young people.
Social and cultural infrastructure for people and policy
A collection of nine discussion papers, 'Social and cultural infrastructure for people and policy', was published in 2024. Each paper explores, from different disciplinary perspectives, how policy interventions can support the role of social and cultural infrastructure in strengthening the UK’s social and cultural fabric.
Higher Education
An initial roundtable took place in October 2023, and the Universities as social and cultural infrastructure note summarises the key themes to emerge from that discussion.
Three further roundtables were held in 2024, in conjunction with the National Civic Impact Accelerator programme (NCIA), to explore the topic of universities as social and cultural infrastructure in more depth. The Universities as Social & Cultural Infrastructure: Roundtable summary note covers the discussions at these events.
Creative & Cultural Industries
The Academy held a pair of roundtables in January and February 2025 examining the role that organisations within the Creative and Cultural Industries play in creating, supporting and enhancing social and cultural infrastructure. The Social and Cultural Infrastructure in the Creative and Cultural Industries summary note synthesises the discussions at these events.
Addressing specific policy challenges
This work strand explores how social and cultural infrastructure can contribute towards tackling specific policy challenges.
Bringing together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, a first workshop explored how social and cultural infrastructure can help tackle disadvantage, and a second workshop explored how this infrastructure can contribute towards reducing crime and improving safety.
The 'exploring social and cultural infrastructure’s role in addressing policy challenges' paper synthesises insights from these two workshops, and also draws on wider work commissioned as part of the social and cultural infrastructure programme, to explore this infrastructure's role in addressing these policy challenges.
Governance
The Academic Lead for the social and cultural infrastructure work theme is Professor Dominic Abrams FBA, Professor of Social Psychology and Director of the Centre for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Kent. Professor Abrams was previously a Co-Chair for the Cohesive Societies programme and also the Academic Lead for the COVID Decade work.
Other members of the social and cultural infrastructure steering group comprise:
Professor Jane Millar FBA, Professor of Social Policy, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath
Professor Fiona Stafford FBA, Professor of English Language and Literature, Somerville College, University of Oxford
Professor Tim Cresswell FBA, Ogilvie Professor of Geography, University of Edinburgh