SECTION 2: The Role of Community Infrastructure

In this section:

 

Introduction:

Effective community infrastructure organizations help neighbourhoods and individuals build assets for long-term success. Investments in basic needs, education, libraries, employment, affordable housing, recreation and social inclusion are the building blocks of vibrant and strong neighbourhoods that supplement the physical design of buildings and roads.

Community infrastructure needs the active involvement of the people residing in the neighbourhoods. In other words, effective community infrastructure must be in partnership with neighbourhood residents who seek to transform and improve the areas that they call home. There is some interesting evidence that the existence of community infrastructure makes a difference – that is, community infrastructure matters to neighbourhood well-being and social capital.

For example, the number of “pro-social” places (schools, recreation centres, parks and libraries) is positively related to the level of resident participation in organizations. That is, neighbourhoods with more pro-social places have higher levels of participation in informal networks such as block groups, youth groups, parent-teacher associations, which increase the opportunities to develop shared values about the neighbourhood and its needs. Researchers also found that the number of pro-social places is positively related to residents’ satisfaction with the block on which they live. (Roman et. al. 2004)

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Basic Needs

Addressing issues of basic needs is fundamental in any community regeneration plan. The community infrastructure must be present to ensure that people have easy access to food, income supports and housing. For most individuals and families, secure housing is necessary to enable them to connect to other types of community infrastructure. Clearly, income security is related to the ability to find and keep secure housing.

Meeting these basic needs is a precursor to strengthening social networks which are important qualitative contributions to neighbourhood vitality. In other words, if people do not have secure housing or income, they are not likely to have time or resources to contribute to social networks.

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Education and libraries

As noted in the City of Toronto , Social Development Strategy (2001), “The use of Toronto's schools provides a model of how sectors can work together. Schools are not only centres for learning but also have become the homes to child care centres, family resources services and nutrition programs.”

In addition to schools, the public libraries serve as an invaluable community resource and public meeting place. Public libraries provide social benefits such as reading programs, arts and cultural activities, and affordable public meeting places, and access to the internet at no fee. At the same time, there are economic benefits of public libraries to users, businesses, services and Canadian culture (City of Toronto 2001). They include:

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Early Childhood Education and Care

There is strong evidence that investing in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services has long term benefits for children and for society as a whole. Generally, ECEC is delivered at a neighbourhood level. Ideally, these services are located within walking distance from young families. An econometric cost benefit analysis of early childhood education studied the impact of ECEC services on children’s school performance, on mothers’ rate of employment over time, on family income and other factors (Cleveland and Krashinsky 1998).

The study also analyzed the cost and benefits of providing publicly-funded, universally accessible ECEC to all children 2-5 years in Canada . This analysis concludes that for every dollar invested in high quality ECEC there is a two dollar benefit to children, parents and society. This econometric analysis shows that regardless of socio-economic background or mothers’ employment status, children who participate in early childhood education perform significantly better in school than those who do not participate.

City of Toronto data also point to the value of high quality ECEC services. During 1998-99, the City tracked the 4,736 low and modest income families who received child care subsidies. Of these, almost 70% were led by lone parents. The study shows that a total of 96% of families receiving child care subsidies did not have to rely on social assistance at all. And significantly, almost 53% of the 2,891 families who started as social assistance recipients, left social assistance during the year. The availability of the child care subsidy as well as other factors influenced the reduced reliance on social assistance (Toronto Children and Youth Action Committee 2002).

It is clear that the availability of accessible ECEC services in neighbourhoods makes a difference to the resiliency of families and to their ability to achieve and sustain economic independence.

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Creating Employment Opportunities

The Empowerment Zone model developed in the United States is a strategy to re-invest in struggling inner-city neighbourhoods. Primarily focusing on economic development, this model provides incentives for community members to start small businesses in their neighbourhoods and also provides incentives to attract employment opportunities within designated areas. This approach can bring some needed economic resources to stigmatized and struggling neighbourhoods.

A focus on quality jobs is also important as a vast number of new jobs created in the 1990s and the early part of this decade have been “part-time, contract, seasonal or own-account self-employment jobs” that are not secure and provide no benefits to their employees (FSA and CSPC -T 2004).

To build strong neighbourhoods it is vital to bring together various actors in each neighbourhood to ensure that a holistic solution for prosperity is put in place. Bradford (2003) notes that, “in each of these places, local actors are searching for, and experimenting with, holistic development models that aim to grow local assets – ranging from business clusters and workforce skills, to inclusive neighbourhoods with well-preserved built and natural environments. In all cases, the broad dynamic of innovation was the same, combining bottom-up strategies with top-down support from higher levels of government.” Thus, while the strategies are derived from the communities in which we are hoping to rebuild, senior levels of government need to take a lead in providing resources to support these initiatives.

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Recreation

Arts, music, sports and recreation are all important and vital parts of strong neighbourhoods. These activities foster community solidarity, strengthen social networks, healthy lifestyles and also contribute to economic growth in entertainment and tourism. The quality of life in urban neighbourhoods is a critical factor for cities seeking to attract businesses and skilled labour with a view to being globally competitive. (Florida et.al. 2002)

Studies have shown that services such as parks, recreation, and cultural activities that enhance the quality of urban life are among the key features that attract the skilled workers to particular places.

Other studies identify eight key benefits of neighbourhood recreation activities (Canadian Parks & Recreation Association.1997):

  1. Recreation and active living are essential to personal health and a key determinant of health status
  2. Recreation is a key to balanced human development – helping Canadians reach for their potential
  3. Recreation and parks are essential to quality of life
  4. Recreation reduces self-destructive and anti-social behaviour
  5. Recreation and parks build strong families and healthy communities
  6. Pay now or pay more Later! Recreation helps to reduce health care, social service, and police/justice costs
  7. Recreation and parks are significant economic generators in communities
  8. Parks, open spaces and natural areas are essential to ecological survival

Increasingly, our understanding of social structures points to support for recreation, parks and public spaces as an effective means to build the social networks among neighbours.

Research also shows that investment in recreation, particularly for youth, increases self-esteem, improves academic performance, improves health and lowers crime rates. There is also strong evidence that recreation “pays for itself” by reducing the use of social and health services such as child psychiatrists, social workers and probation officers (Browne et. al. 2001. Haldane. 2000).

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