Measuring Social and Cultural Infrastructure

Social and cultural infrastructure refers to the spaces and structures that bring people together and that can strengthen the social and cultural fabric of our communities.

The British Academy’s work in this area explores how social and cultural infrastructure can be understood and utilised by policymakers, and others, to reframe policy debates and to help achieve a range of policy aims. ​

A key component of work has been an investigation into how social and cultural infrastructure can be measured, and what a measurement framework could look like.

To achieve this, the Academy commissioned the Bennett Institute to conduct a major project to better understand how to measure the role that social and cultural infrastructure plays in the fabric of our societies.

The final report, 'Measuring Social and Cultural Infrastructure', starts by considering 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 subsequently develops a framework for measuring the critical, yet often overlooked, assets, facilities and spaces of which it is formed. 

To ensure the framework can be used by a range of stakeholders, from national policymakers to community organisations, it is designed to be flexible and to be applicable at different spatial scales. To this end, rather than prescribing a strict methodology to follow or determining what kinds of data should be used, it prompts its users to reflect on their own skills, resources, and purpose when deciding upon how and what to measure.

To accompany the final report, the Bennett Institute have produced guidance notes for users of the measurement framework. The guidance for each audience is available here:

• Central government
• Local authorities
• Combined authorities
• Funders
• Institutions
• Private sector
• Voluntary, community and social enterprise sector

To mark the publication of the report a launch event was held at the British Academy in April 2025. The event provided an overview of the report, and two panels discussed the possibilities of a measurement framework for social and cultural infrastructure.

An academic-focused panel explored how academics from a range of disciplines can best engage with the framework and inform its use and ongoing development. This was followed by a policy and practice-focused panel which discussed the value of the framework, and how it can be utilised in policy and practice.

A recording of the launch event is now available.