Loneliness

In the face of a shifting culture, our public realm is becoming an increasingly lonely place. ‘Loneliness’ is an unseen epidemic, with increasing amounts of people feeling invisible in their communities, inciting greater pessimism and social isolation, and causing diminishing hopes for community engagement. Meaningful and serendipitous interactions are the foundations of our society; humans crave connection.

Our scheme proposes that streets can serve a greater purpose in bringing people together. We are becoming less reliant on public transport stations, partly due to the growing culture of home-working, yet these stations still frequently occur along our high streets and remain an asset to the public. They provide a great opportunity as a location for repeated community hubs, which form the basis of our proposal.

These Community Network Hubs create a more cohesive place for commuters, and also act as beacons for people to come together in the community. Activating our high streets in this way will help to foster a sense of social cohesion, belonging, and solidarity among the population. The hubs act as the building blocks to gradually optimise the streets for people and public transport networks, creating a fundamental shift to a world where we put people first, and a society that will lift us up when we fall down.

Enabling communities to belong together.