Social housing as a social infrastructure: the coexistence of divergent socials on a north London council estate

Source abstract

This paper examines social housing as an “infrastructure of social infrastructures” through a case study of playgrounds on the Hilgrove Estate, north London. Drawing on ethnographic research, surveys and creative interventions, we interrogate normative assumptions about social infrastructure – particularly the claim that “good” infrastructure produces “good” sociality. While Eric Klinenberg’s influential work positions playgrounds as sites of loose social ties (2019), we argue that these spaces manifest multiple, often contradictory, socials shaped by micro-spatial design and affective atmospheres. Comparing two playgrounds on the same estate, we show how subtle variations in visibility, accessibility and enclosure generate divergent experiences: openness fosters trust and collective engagement, yet some can feel scrutinized, while seclusion enables teenage autonomy yet provokes adult anxiety. These findings question singular notions of “the social”, revealing ambivalence, friction and creativity in everyday interactions. We propose that social housing estates be understood as composite infrastructures – bundles of spaces, practices, and materialities – where social infrastructures intersect and interact. By situating playgrounds within this wider infrastructural system, we highlight the need for urban policy and design to embrace plurality, unpredictability and lived experience. Our analysis reframes social housing as a dynamic infrastructure that organizes, affords and challenges collective life.