Continued underfunding of public services is undermining the social fabric of our cities and towns
The sudden snowfall that blanketed Britain in January was an isolated bright spot in a bleak Covid winter. Images on social media showed families seizing the rare opportunity of some genuine outdoors fun, sledging and snowballing in parks and open spaces. The feelgood scenes had a strikingly democratic quality. The snow was free, everyone had access to parks and there was nothing else to do. Families that might never normally share the same spaces enjoyed an impromptu social occasion.
The goal of promoting collective experience is barely on the map as a political aspiration, bar occasional debates about BBC funding. But it should be. A couple of years ago, the American sociologist Eric Klinenberg published a well-received book entitled Palaces for the People, in which he convincingly argued that better social infrastructure is an urgent prerequisite for a healthier, more cohesive civic life. Parks, libraries, bookshops, childcare hubs, leisure centres, arts programmes and youth clubs can be places of encounter that break down social divides. If they are well-funded, well-run and accessible, these public spaces diminish the impact of social inequalities and take us out of our private silos. Many studies have shown the extent to which people value the kinds of public goods that can only be provided by collective provision. The work of Sir Michael Marmot has illustrated the health benefits that come from the sense of a shared fate.
