Social capital is about people who meet, get to know each other and help each other in various ways. Therefore, it appears odd that discussions on meeting places and social capital are rare. This paper discusses the linkage, here termed socio-spatial planning. It raises the question: How can public meeting places facilitate creation of bridging social capital? It suggests that one possible way of securing regular, inter-group face-to-face meetings would be to establish multifunctional centers. Such houses include public services such as health care, school, library; private enterprises as grocers’ shops and banks; and facilities for local associations such as theatre scenes and sports halls. Cases from the Netherlands and Denmark indicate that such large meeting places help counteract segregation of various groups – be it ethnic, social or age. In this way, a well-functioning multifunctional center facilitates provision of the collective goods of integration and bridging social capital.
Allport, G. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice. Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA.
Bisin, A. et al. (2008) ”Are Muslim immigrants different in terms of cultural integration?” Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 6(2/3), 445-456.
Brown, B. (2007) “God and man in the French riots”. American Foreign Policy Interests, vol. 29(3), 183-199.
Buvik, K. & B. Cold (1995) ”Schools and the local community: Joint location and coordinated use”. Children’s Environments 12(4), 87-110.
Coleman, J.S. (1988) ”Social capital in the creation of human capital”. American Journal of Sociology 94, 95–121.
DeFina, R. & L. Hannon (2009) “Diversity, racial threat and metropolitan housing segregation”. Social Forces, vol. 88(1), 373-394.
Föbker, S. & R. Grotz (2003) ”Leisure-related mobility of elderly people: Ways to sustainability”. Paper presented at the 43th congress of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA), August 23-30, 2003.
Giri, S. (2006) “France and its Muslims”. Foreign Affairs, vol. 85(5), 87-104.
Green, D. P. & J. S. Wong (2009) “Tolerance and the contact hypothesis: A field experiment. In: E. Borgida, C. M. Federico & J. L. Sullivan (eds.) The Political Psychology of Democratic Citizenship, 228-246. Oxford University Press.
Hall, K.B. & G. A. Porterfield (2001) Community by Design. New Urbanism for Suburbs and Small Communities. McGraw-Hill Professional.
Haug, S. (2008) “Migration networks and migration decision-making”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 34(4), 585-605.
Herreros, F. (2004) The Problem of Forming Social Capital: Why Trust? Palgrave Macmillan, New York and Houndmills.
Herreros, F. (2009) ”The state”. In: G.T. Svendsen & G.L. Svendsen (eds.) Handbook of Social Capital. The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics, pp. 179-196. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA.
Hou, F. & Z. Wu (2009) “Racial diversity, minority concentration, and trust in Canadian urban neighborhoods”. Social Science Research, vol. 38, 693-716.
Howard, E. (1902) Garden Cities of To-Morrow. London. Available in electronic form at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/gcot/gcot03.htm
Ireland, P. (2008) “Comparing responses to ethnic segregation in urban Europe”. Urban Studies 45(7), 1333-1358.
Jones, M.M. (2006) Multifunctional centers. Rebuilding the countryside. Into Print, Oosterbeck, Holland.
Katz, P. & V. Scully (1994) The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Knox, P.L. (2005) ”Creating ordinary places: Slow Cities in a fast world”. Journal of Urban Design, no. 1, 1-11.
Kolig, E. (2006) “Interfacing with the West: Muslims, multiculturalism and radicalism in New Zealand”. New Zealand Sociology, vol. 21(2), 215-246. Kulturhus Nederlands (2007) www.Kulturhus.nl (date of access: 07-01-08)
Laan, M.v.d. (2005) “Moedige mensen bouwen Kulturhusen met toekomst”. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 24-27. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Larsen, L.L. (2005) “Een Deen vraagt nooit om een Kulturhus, hij heeft er recht op” “A Dane never asks for a Kulturhus, he claims it”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 60-65. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Lenteren, J. van, ed. (2005a) Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus]. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Lenteren, J. van (2005b) “Als mensen echt iets willen, dan gebeurt het” [“If people really want something, they will make it happen”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 12-18. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Little, R. (2007) A New Social Europe. Freethinking. Fabian Society, London: http://www.policy- network.net/uploadedfiles/publications/publications/a%20new%20social%20europ e.pdf (Date of access: 11-05-2010)
McIntosh, W., Morris, I.L. & L. Garcia (2006) “A mighty fortress: The social and economic foundations of the American Megachurch Movement: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/apworkshop/fortress.pdf (Date of access: 22-5-09)
Nannestad, P., G.L.H. Svendsen & G.T. Svendsen (2008) “Bridge over troubled water? Migration, social capital and the welfare state”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 2008, vol. 34(4), 607-631.
Patulny, R. & G.L.H. Svendsen (2007) “Exploring the social capital grid: bonding, bridging, qualitative, quantitative”. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy (1/2), 32-51.
Pettigrew, T. (1998) “Intergroup contact theory”. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 49, 85.
Putnam, R.D. (1993) Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Putnam, R.D. (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, New York.
Putnam, R.D. & Feldstein, L. & D. Cohen (2003) Better Together. Restoring the American Community. Simon & Schuster.
Putnam, R.D. (2007) “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century”. Scandinavian Political Studies, vol. 30, no. 2, 137-174.
Rothstein, B. (2002) Sweden: Social Capital in the Social Democratic State: The Swedish Model and Civil Society. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Rothstein, B. & D. Stolle (2003) ”Introduction: Social Capital in Scandinavia”. Scandinavian Political Studies 26(1), 1-26.
Rothstein, B. & E.M. Uslaner (2005) “All for All: Equality and Social Trust”. World Politics 58, 41-72.
Rushdie, S. (1988) The Satanic Verses. Penguin, New York, London. E-version: http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/fr33minds/SalmanRushdie_satanic_verses.p df (Date of access: 15-5-2010)
Rutten, R., Westlund H. & F. Boekema (2010) “The spatial dimension of social capital”. European Planning Studies, vol. 18(6), 863-871.
Sarkissian, W. (1976) “The idea of social mix in town planning: An historical review”. Urban Studies, 13, 231-246.
Schaefer, S. (2005) “Germany: A Case Study of Failed Integration”. In: Sarah Schaefer, Greg Austin and Kate Paker (eds.) Turks in Europe: Why are we afraid?, pp. 1-18. Foreign Policy Center, London.
SOPEMI (2002) Trends in International Migration. OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.: http://www.oecd.org/document/3/0,3343,en_2649_33931_31844576_1_1_1_1,00.ht ml (Date of access: 20-05-2010)
Taylor, P. & R. Morin (2008) Americans Say They Like Diverse Communities; Election, Census Trends Suggest Otherwise. Pew Research Center: http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/diverse-political-communities.pdf (Date of access: 13-05-2010).
Tully, J. (2007) “A new kind of Europe?: Democratic integration in the European Union. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol. 10 (1), 71–86.
Svendsen, G.L.H. (2006) ”Studying social capital in situ. An anthropological approach”. Theory and Society (1), 39-70.
Svendsen, G.L.H. (2009) “Multifunctional centers in rural areas: Fabrics of social and human capital”. In: F. Columbus (ed.) Rural Education, Chapter 1. Nova Science Publishers, New York.
Svendsen, G.L.H. & G.T. Svendsen (2004) The Creation and Destruction of Social Capital: Entrepreneurship, Co-operative Movements and Institutions. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, USA.
Temmink, J. (2005) “Herrie door banale kwesties Stad of dorp niet wezenlijk anders” “When it comes to noisy quarrels, city and village are alike”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 20-23. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Tickamyer, A. R. (2000) “Space matters Spatial inequality in future sociology”. Contemporary Sociology 29 (6), 805-813.
Uslaner, E.M. (2006) “Does diversity drive down trust?” Working paper 2006.69. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei: http://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2006.69.html (Date of access: 25-04-2007).
Uslaner, E.M. (2009a) “Corruption, inequality, and trust”. In: G.T. Svendsen & G.L.H. Svendsen (Eds.) Handbook of Social Capital. The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, USA. Forthcoming Spring
Uslaner, E.M. (2009b) “Trust, diversity, and segregation”. Unpublished paper.
Walmsley, D.J. & H.C. Weiland (1991) “Changing retail structure in Southern Sydney”. Australian Geographer 22(1), 57-66.
Wright, R. (2008 [1945]) Black Boy (American Hunger). Harper Perennial Modern Classics, New York.
Wylie, C., Podmore, V.N. & K.E. Murrow (1997) “Childcare/early childhood education in a labour market context in Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Labour Market Policy Group. Occationsal Paper 1997/2.
Zimmermann, K.F. et al. (2008) Study on the Social and Labour Market Integration of Ethnic Minorities. IZA Research Report No. 16: http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/reports/report_pdfs/iza_report_ pdf (Date of access: 10-05-2010).
Allport, G. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice. Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA.
Bisin, A. et al. (2008) ”Are Muslim immigrants different in terms of cultural integration?” Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 6(2/3), 445-456.
Brown, B. (2007) “God and man in the French riots”. American Foreign Policy Interests, vol. 29(3), 183-199.
Buvik, K. & B. Cold (1995) ”Schools and the local community: Joint location and coordinated use”. Children’s Environments 12(4), 87-110.
Coleman, J.S. (1988) ”Social capital in the creation of human capital”. American Journal of Sociology 94, 95–121.
DeFina, R. & L. Hannon (2009) “Diversity, racial threat and metropolitan housing segregation”. Social Forces, vol. 88(1), 373-394.
Föbker, S. & R. Grotz (2003) ”Leisure-related mobility of elderly people: Ways to sustainability”. Paper presented at the 43th congress of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA), August 23-30, 2003.
Giri, S. (2006) “France and its Muslims”. Foreign Affairs, vol. 85(5), 87-104.
Green, D. P. & J. S. Wong (2009) “Tolerance and the contact hypothesis: A field experiment. In: E. Borgida, C. M. Federico & J. L. Sullivan (eds.) The Political Psychology of Democratic Citizenship, 228-246. Oxford University Press.
Hall, K.B. & G. A. Porterfield (2001) Community by Design. New Urbanism for Suburbs and Small Communities. McGraw-Hill Professional.
Haug, S. (2008) “Migration networks and migration decision-making”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 34(4), 585-605.
Herreros, F. (2004) The Problem of Forming Social Capital: Why Trust? Palgrave Macmillan, New York and Houndmills.
Herreros, F. (2009) ”The state”. In: G.T. Svendsen & G.L. Svendsen (eds.) Handbook of Social Capital. The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics, pp. 179-196. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA.
Hou, F. & Z. Wu (2009) “Racial diversity, minority concentration, and trust in Canadian urban neighborhoods”. Social Science Research, vol. 38, 693-716.
Howard, E. (1902) Garden Cities of To-Morrow. London. Available in electronic form at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/utopia/gcot/gcot03.htm
Ireland, P. (2008) “Comparing responses to ethnic segregation in urban Europe”. Urban Studies 45(7), 1333-1358.
Jones, M.M. (2006) Multifunctional centers. Rebuilding the countryside. Into Print, Oosterbeck, Holland.
Katz, P. & V. Scully (1994) The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Knox, P.L. (2005) ”Creating ordinary places: Slow Cities in a fast world”. Journal of Urban Design, no. 1, 1-11.
Kolig, E. (2006) “Interfacing with the West: Muslims, multiculturalism and radicalism in New Zealand”. New Zealand Sociology, vol. 21(2), 215-246. Kulturhus Nederlands (2007) www.Kulturhus.nl (date of access: 07-01-08)
Laan, M.v.d. (2005) “Moedige mensen bouwen Kulturhusen met toekomst”. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 24-27. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Larsen, L.L. (2005) “Een Deen vraagt nooit om een Kulturhus, hij heeft er recht op” “A Dane never asks for a Kulturhus, he claims it”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 60-65. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Lenteren, J. van, ed. (2005a) Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus]. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Lenteren, J. van (2005b) “Als mensen echt iets willen, dan gebeurt het” [“If people really want something, they will make it happen”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 12-18. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Little, R. (2007) A New Social Europe. Freethinking. Fabian Society, London: http://www.policy- network.net/uploadedfiles/publications/publications/a%20new%20social%20europ e.pdf (Date of access: 11-05-2010)
McIntosh, W., Morris, I.L. & L. Garcia (2006) “A mighty fortress: The social and economic foundations of the American Megachurch Movement: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/apworkshop/fortress.pdf (Date of access: 22-5-09)
Nannestad, P., G.L.H. Svendsen & G.T. Svendsen (2008) “Bridge over troubled water? Migration, social capital and the welfare state”. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 2008, vol. 34(4), 607-631.
Patulny, R. & G.L.H. Svendsen (2007) “Exploring the social capital grid: bonding, bridging, qualitative, quantitative”. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy (1/2), 32-51.
Pettigrew, T. (1998) “Intergroup contact theory”. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 49, 85.
Putnam, R.D. (1993) Making Democracy Work. Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Putnam, R.D. (2000) Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, New York.
Putnam, R.D. & Feldstein, L. & D. Cohen (2003) Better Together. Restoring the American Community. Simon & Schuster.
Putnam, R.D. (2007) “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first century”. Scandinavian Political Studies, vol. 30, no. 2, 137-174.
Rothstein, B. (2002) Sweden: Social Capital in the Social Democratic State: The Swedish Model and Civil Society. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Rothstein, B. & D. Stolle (2003) ”Introduction: Social Capital in Scandinavia”. Scandinavian Political Studies 26(1), 1-26.
Rothstein, B. & E.M. Uslaner (2005) “All for All: Equality and Social Trust”. World Politics 58, 41-72.
Rushdie, S. (1988) The Satanic Verses. Penguin, New York, London. E-version: http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/fr33minds/SalmanRushdie_satanic_verses.p df (Date of access: 15-5-2010)
Rutten, R., Westlund H. & F. Boekema (2010) “The spatial dimension of social capital”. European Planning Studies, vol. 18(6), 863-871.
Sarkissian, W. (1976) “The idea of social mix in town planning: An historical review”. Urban Studies, 13, 231-246.
Schaefer, S. (2005) “Germany: A Case Study of Failed Integration”. In: Sarah Schaefer, Greg Austin and Kate Paker (eds.) Turks in Europe: Why are we afraid?, pp. 1-18. Foreign Policy Center, London.
SOPEMI (2002) Trends in International Migration. OECD, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.: http://www.oecd.org/document/3/0,3343,en_2649_33931_31844576_1_1_1_1,00.ht ml (Date of access: 20-05-2010)
Taylor, P. & R. Morin (2008) Americans Say They Like Diverse Communities; Election, Census Trends Suggest Otherwise. Pew Research Center: http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/diverse-political-communities.pdf (Date of access: 13-05-2010).
Tully, J. (2007) “A new kind of Europe?: Democratic integration in the European Union. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, vol. 10 (1), 71–86.
Svendsen, G.L.H. (2006) ”Studying social capital in situ. An anthropological approach”. Theory and Society (1), 39-70.
Svendsen, G.L.H. (2009) “Multifunctional centers in rural areas: Fabrics of social and human capital”. In: F. Columbus (ed.) Rural Education, Chapter 1. Nova Science Publishers, New York.
Svendsen, G.L.H. & G.T. Svendsen (2004) The Creation and Destruction of Social Capital: Entrepreneurship, Co-operative Movements and Institutions. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, USA.
Temmink, J. (2005) “Herrie door banale kwesties Stad of dorp niet wezenlijk anders” “When it comes to noisy quarrels, city and village are alike”]. In: J. van Lenteren Sleutels inleveren Op weg naar een Kulturhus [Hand in Your Keys On the Way to a Kulturhus], pp. 20-23. Aprilis, Zaltbommel, Nederlands.
Tickamyer, A. R. (2000) “Space matters Spatial inequality in future sociology”. Contemporary Sociology 29 (6), 805-813.
Uslaner, E.M. (2006) “Does diversity drive down trust?” Working paper 2006.69. Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei: http://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2006.69.html (Date of access: 25-04-2007).
Uslaner, E.M. (2009a) “Corruption, inequality, and trust”. In: G.T. Svendsen & G.L.H. Svendsen (Eds.) Handbook of Social Capital. The Troika of Sociology, Political Science and Economics. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, USA. Forthcoming Spring
Uslaner, E.M. (2009b) “Trust, diversity, and segregation”. Unpublished paper.
Walmsley, D.J. & H.C. Weiland (1991) “Changing retail structure in Southern Sydney”. Australian Geographer 22(1), 57-66.
Wright, R. (2008 [1945]) Black Boy (American Hunger). Harper Perennial Modern Classics, New York.
Wylie, C., Podmore, V.N. & K.E. Murrow (1997) “Childcare/early childhood education in a labour market context in Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Labour Market Policy Group. Occationsal Paper 1997/2.
Zimmermann, K.F. et al. (2008) Study on the Social and Labour Market Integration of Ethnic Minorities. IZA Research Report No. 16: http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/reports/report_pdfs/iza_report_ pdf (Date of access: 10-05-2010).
Svendsen, G. L. H. (2016). Socio-spatial Planning in the Creation of Bridging Social Capital: The Importance of Multifunctional Centers for Intergroup Networks and Integration. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 3(2), 45-73.