Public services and facilities
Contents
Public services and facilities
Public services and facilities are urban objects designated to fulfil supportive functions related to the health and well-being of the citizens of a modern society or urban area.
Description
Public services and facilities refers to all of the facilities which are required by an urban area to provide the necessary and essential functions for its citizens. These include Educational Facilities, health facilities and government administration facilities, which all perform vital roles within the overall operation of the urban area. The different types of social infrastructure will occur in all contexts of the urban fabric, depending on the role and function of the individual piece of social infrastructure.
Functions
Social
Economic
The economic function of social infrastructure is to provide for the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. Investment in social infrastructure is essential for maintaining quality of life and to develop the skills and resilience essential to strong communities.
There is a growing consensus amongst scholars and politicians that social infrastructure is at least as important for the successful development of a modern economy as more physical infrastructure such as roads, utility facilities, sewer systems, etc. Social infrastructure such as schools, theatres, sport facilities, etc. make people want to live in a certain area which subsequently attracts businesses and other investors that provide for jobs and income. "In short, social infrastructure planning involves minimal resource for high returns"[1](in terms of primary and secondary economic impact).
Mobility
Safety
Security Issues
The economic dimension of security issus for social infrastructure
The impact of security threats is primarily crime related (e.g. burglary, robbery, etc.) Crime generates costs in anticipation of crime (e.g. locks, surveillance, etc.), as a consequence of crime (loss of property) and in response to crime (police investigation, legal system, etc.). As a secondary impact, another effect of crime is that residents become less committed to their communities, causing the ‘social fibre’ of the community to be weakened. An example of the loss of social capital is that residents of neighbourhoods with a criminal reputation are judged to be associated with criminal activities, leading (amongst others) to stigmas that (e.g.) prevent those people from finding jobs[2].
Measures
The economic dimension of security measures for social infrastructure
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Footnotes and references
MAP
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