Chris Johnes, CEO of Building Communities Trust, discusses how social infrastructure and local services are integral to community cohesion.
Social disturbances, hostile demonstrations, and even riots have punctured much of our sense of living in a peaceful stable country in recent years. Even where there have been no physical disturbances, media headlines suggesting “the country is ready to explode” have become much more common. Recently, more sober voices on the Senedd’s Equalities and Social Justice Committee have talked of “a crisis of trust in politics… adding fuel to a tinder box of discontent which threatens to undermine our democracy” as they called for urgent steps to address a crisis in social cohesion.
The committee’s report is based on extensive evidence that there is a crisis, but it is located in particular areas with specific characteristics. For a more general picture, the What Works Centre for Wellbeing found that across the UK, 83% of people agreed that “my local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together”.
On the flip side, a lack of social infrastructure prevents people from building the relationships needed to create cohesive communities. Without it, people often struggle to make new connections within their community and across life experiences and cultures.
There is also a clear body of evidence on what helps make more cohesive communities. Research from Germany highlights the importance of community-led infrastructures in “facilitating collective life…providing opportunities for residents and frequent visitors to observe each other engaged in similar activities and shared pursuits, encounter familiar faces and engage in incidental social contact.”
To best facilitate cohesion, social infrastructure must be accessible and inclusive. In other words, it must be designed to bring the widest number possible of people and social groups together.
Spaces like community centres, hubs, allotments and football pitches provide lasting opportunities for people to meet and connect. Recent research on community centres suggests “they can help provide the scaffolding for cohesion locally”. They provide a physical space where community groups can convene, overlap and work together, offering a basis for activity that is visible and accessible to everyone who lives in that area.
Innovative. Informed. Independent.
Your support can help us make Wales better.
On the flip side, a lack of social infrastructure prevents people from building the relationships needed to create cohesive communities. Without it, people often struggle to make new connections within their community and across life experiences and cultures.
In one Welsh community participating in the Invest Local programme, an interviewee observed that (in their view) it was a community that feels “[s]tuff has been taken away from it”. They cited examples such as closure of community buildings, spaces, and play equipment that was judged unsafe and removed by the local authority, but not replaced, leaving a play area “desolate”.
It is clear that without spaces and places for people to meet informally, fostering community action, resilience and cohesion is more challenging.
The evidence is particularly striking in the attitudes and experiences seen amongst young people. Research in more deprived areas in Manchester showed that low access to community activities and spaces combined with poor or limited socioeconomic opportunities acts as a “barrier to mobility”- leading to higher levels of dissatisfaction with their local area than the national average. In our experience from the Invest Local programme there has been a large degree of age bias in the way cuts have been experienced, resulting in younger people feeling alienated through loss of services. As such, developing or supporting youth clubs, play activities, sports facilities and cultural opportunities for younger members of each community have been priorities for Invest Local groups as much has disappeared.
Research carried out in both Wales and England shows that areas with low incomes and limited social infrastructure tend to experience higher rates of major crime, including levels of violent offences that surpass the national averages.
It is clear that without spaces and places for people to meet informally, fostering community action, resilience and cohesion is more challenging. This was also reflected during the pandemic, when we observed a real inequality in community responses, with existing levels of trust and connection a key determining factor. However, the presence of social infrastructure in itself is not sufficient to build or maintain cohesion. Fundamental to the success of community organisations and action is the ability to engender trust within their local neighbourhoods and the quality of relationships with local people.
We have witnessed a legacy of mistrust between residents and potential partner organisations in several of the communities where we work. Some of this can be traced to the long-term impact of cuts in public funding, ongoing stigma felt by residents from public bodies, and the legacy left by earlier development initiatives that were felt to have failed in some communities. If left unresolved, a high degree of mistrust can seriously hamper collaborative working which in turn inhibits action to strengthen community and social cohesion.
Robust debate and agenda-setting research.
Support Wales’ leading independent think tank.
Power To Change argues that “building capacity and increasing the provision of places and spaces for people to meet can help create conditions in which trust can be built between groups in an area…through local initiatives run by community organisations to address shared problems and opportunities or local government playing a convening role.”
When that capacity is not present, community organisations are less well placed to build the necessary relations. This was true in Ely in 2023 when Action on Caerau and Ely’s (ACE) funding provided little scope for wider community building and in Bolton in 2024 where All Souls Bolton found themselves in a weak position to undertake work to bring their community together at a vital time.
“When trouble started this summer [2024], we were less well placed to deal with it, as infrastructure has dwindled and community development has been cut from council budgets, so organisations like ours were contacted too late. This work needs to be ongoing – we’re still working to rebuild meaningful relationships across divides in our communities”.
But after the Ely riots, when ACE was funded to help residents develop a plan for recovery, as a trusted organisation they were able to facilitate widespread resident involvement, including by young people, a group who had been most affected by the disturbances.
Power to Change’s conclusion is that “In every community, people must have opportunities to connect across lines of difference and encourage positive social contact, whether that’s in community centres or at the school gate. There needs to be capacity in the community for initiatives that promote this.”
Often sports and arts activities, green spaces and play areas are critical in enabling people to come together in neutral spaces, focusing on activities that people want to do rather than the background of those taking part.
The widespread evidence about the value of inclusive social infrastructure in promoting and sustaining community cohesion raises important questions about the focus of social cohesion policy in Wales. It remains one of the most stable areas of Welsh policy with the original strategy dating back to 2009 and the most recent update almost ten years ago – and this longevity also provides the risk of obsolescence.
The strategy places a large emphasis on the role of local authorities – who no longer run much of the critical social infrastructure described above – and remains relatively narrow in its focus. However, the evidence that has started to emerge from the Senedd committee inquiry challenges that approach and suggest something broader is required if we are to take proactive approaches to ensuring the stability and good relations we wish to see in Welsh communities.
Discussions and debates that drive Wales forward.
Join Wales’ leading independent think tank.
In 2026 the more obvious framework to use is that of the Well-Being of Future Generations Act which provides for a much broader definition of cohesive communities. Rather than viewing cohesion narrowly through the lens of tensions or divisions, the Act emphasises the conditions that allow people and places to thrive over the long term. The four strands it promotes – connectedness, active citizenry, access to services and strong community anchor organisations – together create a holistic picture of what resilient, inclusive communities require.
Connectedness highlights the importance of everyday relationships and the ability of people to feel rooted in and supported by their local area. Active citizenry recognises that cohesion grows when people are empowered to participate meaningfully in shaping local priorities and decisions. Ensuring access to services acknowledges that cohesion cannot flourish where essential services are distant, overstretched or unevenly distributed. Finally, strong community anchor organisations provide the stable local infrastructure needed to convene, support and bring together different groups. Taken together, these strands align closely with the emerging evidence on what strengthens social cohesion and provide a much firmer, more realistic foundation for supporting cohesive communities in Wales throughout the 2020s and beyond.
All articles published on the welsh agenda are subject to IWA’s disclaimer. If you want to support our work tackling Wales’ key challenges, consider becoming a member.
