Category: Research

“Bumping Spaces are places in the community where we naturally bump into each other, they are our communal spaces, gathering places. A trusted environment where we spend time together, share space together, be in relationships together and walk beside each other…Bumping Spaces are places where we can make friends, share our thoughts and feelings together and be empowered to find the answers and solutions to solve our own problems within our communities acknowledging everyone’s gifts and that everyone is an asset within their community…At Bumping Spaces we are both the helper and the helped, we share our new skills and abilities together, our cultures, our histories looking for what’s strong, not focusing on what’s wrong through the power of peer support, celebrating difference and embracing change.”
https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/blog/what-is-a-bumping-space/

“Community is built on relationships and people develop relationships through frequent contact with others. So, if you want to build community, you need places to bump into other people. The closer those places are to where you live, the more likely you are to bump into the same people over and over again…
If you want to develop an inclusive community, you need to have inclusive bumping spaces. While neighbors typically have all kinds of differences in terms of age, income, culture, religion, politics, interests, etc. they tend to gather with people who are like themselves. To be inclusive, a place should be accessible to those with differing abilities and incomes.
A key reason why places aren’t sufficiently inclusive is because so many are single purpose. They only attract gardeners, basketball players, seniors or whomever the space was specifically designed for…
An inclusive place will be multi-purpose.”
https://www.theemptysquare.org/stories/bumping-places

“…the way we plan and design our built environment needs to encourage different kinds of interaction – we need bumping spaces like benches where we might see neighbours or acquaintances – so called ‘weak ties’. Alongside this, we also need places for the creation of ‘strong ties’ where we develop and maintain real friendships, for example at community groups and activities.
A ‘less lonely’ neighbourhood needs to have the right collection of buildings and friendly shared places which are liked by residents and are, therefore, comfortable to use and will foster encounters with others’.”
https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/press-release/tackling-loneliness-through-the-built-environment/

“Built environment and places for widening connections: Neighbourhood research can also be used to distinguish places where residents go to encounter or interact with people from the same community, same age group or who are in other ways like themselves (sometimes described as acquiring ‘bonding social capital’).
And places where people from different groups can encounter one another (described as creating ‘bridging social capital’).
In one example, people tended to use informal infrastructure such as shops and cafes to meet people they already knew.
Formal infrastructure such as libraries, sports and exercise facilities, and community spaces were often places for encountering people from different backgrounds.
Mixed housing can also foster such ‘bridging’ as, for example, in housing association sites which include housing to meet the needs of people at different life stages.
And interventions, for example a community gardening project, can improve connections between different backgrounds and generations.
These shared places then offer the possibility of enabling a wider set of connections between local people including members of marginalised communities who may otherwise have little opportunity to meet a diverse group of people who live nearby.
On the other hand, there is also evidence that individuals may be reluctant to attend places heavily identified with a group of which they are not a part.
Whether thinking about ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ public places or shared spaces around housing, consideration needs to be given to whether they foster enough contact to address loneliness. Researchers have distinguished between places which support weak versus strong ties.
For example, there is the possibility of repeated low-key verbal or non-verbal encounters with staff or other local residents in locations such as shops and libraries and also in places we pass through on a regular basis including parks and greenspaces or walking routes around the area.”
https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-content/uploads/CEL-Tackling-loneliness-through-the-built-environment-Final.pdf

“In sociology, the third place refers to the social surroundings that are separate from the two usual social environments of home (“first place”) and the workplace (“second place”). In his book The Great Good Place (1989), Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

“Unlike a home or a workplace, a third place is a place where people are not required to be anything other than who they are. There is no pressure to be efficient, serious, productive, or successful. Rather, people can engage in activities that may be “just for fun”. In his article “The Third Place Thesis,” [Ray] Oldenburg suggests that third places are essential to the mental and social health of individuals, particularly those in urban settings.”
https://skipwalter.net/2022/12/04/the-great-third-place-versus-third-space-theory/

[Ray] Oldenburg (1989) outlines some of the specific characteristics of third places:
1) They are on neutral ground. All are welcome, and no one plays “host”;
2) They are a leveler; people of different socio-economic strata attend;
3) Conversation is the main activity. Even though the setting may be a place for drinking, or exercising, or playing a game, talking is always present;
4) They are accessible; there are no physical, policy, or monetary barriers to entrance;
5) They are a home away from home. There are “regulars” who find the atmosphere comfortable enough to “root” them there;
6) The mood is playful, laughter is often heard, and wit is prized.
Oldenburg believes that these are the essential characteristics of third places because they engender the unique communication experiences and sociological benefits associated with these places.
The benefits serve not only community residents but also the community at large.
For an individual, the third place offers stress relief from the everyday demands of both home and work.
It provides the feeling of inclusiveness and belonging associated with participating in a group’s social activities, without the rigidity of policy or exclusiveness of club or organization membership.
For the greater community, the third place strengthens community ties through social interaction. It can foster commitment to local politics via informed public discourse.
It also provides a feeling of safety and security by being publicly accessible and promoting open and visible interaction (Soukup 2006).
As Oldenburg himself states, ‘Third places are nothing more than informal public gathering places.'”
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=clcom_facpub

“Third places have a number of important community-building attributes.
Depending on their location, social classes and backgrounds can be ‘leveled-out’ in ways that are unfortunately rare these days, with people feeling they are treated as social equals. Informal conversation is the main activity and most important linking function.
One commentator refers to third places as the “living room” of society.
Many city planning efforts to reinvigorate metropolitan neighborhoods now include specific steps to create third places, especially public spaces, to try and break down social siloes.
Strengthening social networks is a crucial step to reviving neighborhoods and addressing social problems. Third places can do much to help stabilize communities and reduce social problems.”
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2016/09/14/third-places-as-community-builders/

“‘A community life can exist when one can go daily to a given location at a given time and see many of the people one knows,’ writes another American sociologist, Philip Slater, author of a book on loneliness: [The Pursuit of Loneliness]
When a city has lovely spaces for people for people to stroll in, or loiter, or meet friends – and importantly for our senior citizens, when these places are close to home – then the requirement for one’s house to be large and nice enough for entertaining is lessened. And when you have places to meet your neighbours by chance, you can get to know them without the pressure of inviting them over.
[Ray] Oldenburg describes third places as neutral ground: no one has to play host and everyone is at ease. “If there is no neutral ground in the neighbourhoods where people live, association outside the home will be impoverished. Many, perhaps most, neighbours will never meet, to say nothing of associate, for there is no place for them to do so.”
Why is all of this important? Because a third of us said we were lonely in the 2014 census, and one in five of us will seek treatment this year for depression or anxiety. And because our cities aren’t bolstering one of the most significant aspects of mental health: a sense of community.
Yet we blame this lack of community upon ourselves – we haven’t tried hard enough to build it – when the problem is in fact the lack of a venue for this to take place.”
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/02-07-2018/every-new-zealander-needs-a-third-place