Handbook of Social Infrastructure: Conceptual and Empirical Research Perspectives

This timely Handbook showcases cutting-edge empirical and theoretical social science research to shed light on the role, aims and functioning of social infrastructure (SI). Leading scholars present unique insights on topics such as healthcare, childcare, education, employment, and SI for marginalised groups alongside cultural and recreational infrastructures. Ongoing global and regional crises have underscored the significance of SI services and facilities in enhancing individual well-being, social cohesion and equality. With this central tenet in mind, contributing authors challenge traditional views on public welfare systems throughout the Handbook to take into account the climate, care and housing crises. They provide an in-depth examination of the concept of SI and how it relates to different strands of research such as welfare state analysis and urbanism, connecting the field with other emerging strands of conceptualising socio-economic processes such as the foundational economy approach. Paving the way for further research, the Handbook of Social Infrastructure is a vital resource for students and scholars of sociology, regional and urban economics, cities, urban planning and geography, and public sector economics and finance. Policymakers will find it equally beneficial to inform their understanding of spatial planning, economic and social policies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction to the Handbook of Social Infrastructure 1 Anna-Theresa Renner, Leonhard Plank, Michael Getzner PART I DOMAINS AND INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE HEALTH AND CARE 1 Hospitals as social infrastructure - accessible for all? 20 Anna-Theresa Renner 2 Strengthening social infrastructure in long-term care for older people – Coordinated action and local empowerment in Europe 39 Cassandra Simmons, Stefania Ilinca, Adelina Comas-Herrera, Claire Champeix, Lian Southard and Nick Zonnenveld. 3 Demographic change, healthcare, and long-term care 56 Sonja Spitzer and Claudia Reiter EDUCATION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 4 The organization of formal childcare: inequalities in use and effects of childcare services 86 Astrid Pennerstorfer and Michaela Neumayr 5 Locating vocational education and training within the social infrastructure of communities past and present 106 Lorna Unwin 6 Unemployment and labor market policies 121 Lukas Lehner and Dennis Tamesberger 7 Is social infrastructure punching below its weight in the debate on social mobility? 143 Mathieu P.A. Steijn MARGINALIZED AND VULNERABLE GROUPS 8 Social infrastructure for migrants and integration 159 Judith Kohlenberger 9 Social infrastructure in the NowHereland of undocumented migration: the case of Austria and Israel 176 Ursula Trummer, Sonja Novak-Zezula and Lika Nusbaum 10 Homelessness and social infrastructure 199 Simon Güntner, Nancy Meyer-Adams, Marc Diebäcker CULTURE AND RECREATION 10 Heritage and social infrastructure 210 Ioanna Katapidi and Anne Laura Kraak 12 Cultural infrastructure as part of social infrastructure: perspectives of cultural policy and economics 231 Michael Getzner 13 Cultural institutions in transitional China: public service and corporate development 248 Yan Li 14 Public recreation areas as social infrastructure: empirical results from Vienna 272 Michael Getzner PART II CHALLENGES AND FUTURE PATHWAYS FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURES 15 Urban heat waves and adaptive capacity: how can social infrastructure help reduce vulnerability? 288 Leora Courtney-Wolfman 16 The care crisis, social infrastructure and the COVID-19 crisis 310 Hanne Marlene Dahl and Molly Occhino NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE RESEARCH 17 Social infrastructures from a global perspective: beyond the formal and informal divide 331 Judith M. Lehner 18 Material and “providential” social infrastructures – a foundational economy perspective 348 Filippo Barbera 19 The role of urban and regional planning in the provision of social infrastructure 361 Jan Whittington, Dian Prasetyawati and Chin-Wei Chen 20 Housing as social infrastructure 391 Andrej Holm

About the Author :
Edited by Anna-Theresa Renner, Leonhard Plank and Michael Getzner, Department of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, TU Wien, Austria

Review :
‘Paving the way for further research, the Handbook of Social Infrastructure is a vital resource for students and scholars of sociology, regional and urban economics, cities, urban planning and geography, and public sector economics and finance. Policy-makers will find it equally beneficial to inform their understanding of spatial planning and economic and social policies.’ ‘Social infrastructure is increasingly attracting the attention of academic and policy communities yet, as this volume effectively outlines, there is no consensus on its definition and scope. This new Handbook provides a timely and unique introduction to social infrastructure, how it matters and the important debates about its development.’ ‘The contribution of social infrastructure to human development has garnered rising academic and policy interest. This valuable set of chapters advances our knowledge of social infrastructure across a variety of dimensions, sectors and local and national contexts, and provides a foundation for anybody seeking a deeper understanding of this field.’