Public Good in the Hands of the People: Social infrastructure provisioning in peripheralised urban geographies in the UK

Edwards, L ORCID: 0000-0002-1469-335X (2026) Public Good in the Hands of the People: Social infrastructure provisioning in peripheralised urban geographies in the UK. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

Over the last decade, many of the spaces within communities that can be understood as social infrastructure have been significantly impacted by austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis; while simultaneously, the imperative for resources that foster connection and community wellbeing has further intensified. With burgeoning research linking strong social infrastructure to positive economic, health and social outcomes, and quantitative analysis in the UK using its absence as an indicator of community need, the concept has emerged as a key determinant in academic and policy discourse around regional inequalities and so-called ‘left-behind’ places. However, there is limited in-depth, place-based analysis of the dynamics of social infrastructure provisioning, particularly within peripheralised urban geographies that have been disproportionately affected by austerity.

This thesis examines the transformative potential and inherent risks of social infrastructure provisioning models in such contexts, focusing on the deindustrialised town of Bootle in Sefton, UK, as a place-based case study. Using a mixed methods design, the research synthesises conceptual perspectives on social infrastructure and austerity urbanism, to foreground the social and political processes of provisioning, investigating how local authority, commercial, and community-led spaces coalesce as infrastructure within place. A combination of qualitative, immersive and creative methods were utilised to evidence stakeholder perspectives and residents' lived experiences. This methodological contribution provides a rich exploration and captures visual insights into locally valued spaces including ‘under-the-radar’, informal social infrastructures that are otherwise obscured through top-down approaches.

Findings reveal multiple ways in which austerity, along with other processes of peripheralisation, reshape not only the governance, funding, and provision of social infrastructure, but also how it is accessed, experienced and valued by citizens. The emphasis on provisioning draws attention to the ‘inner-workings’ of social infrastructure, highlighting multiple dimensions of risk in current and emerging models. Relational framings of community wellbeing and resourcefulness elucidate the critical role of social infrastructure in generating foundational, developmental and transformative community-level effects, including the capacity to counter processes of peripheralisation. The analysis identified several enabling factors that can be adopted strategically across provisioning models to enhance outcomes within place. Although grounded in Bootle’s specific context, as a holistic representative case, the research offers relevant insights to similarly peripheralised urban geographies that share the critical challenges of deprivation, decline and competition for resources. Along with its contribution to local and national policy development, this thesis advances knowledge on urban infrastructure, neoliberal urban governance, regional inequalities, and social equity.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Social infrastructure; Austerity urbanism; Community wellbeing; Community resourcefulness; Peripheralisation
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Art and Creative Industries
Date of acceptance:	14 May 2026
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2026 14:35
Last Modified:	17 Jun 2026 14:35
Supervisors:	Jones, G, Fillis, I, Brown, J and Hobson, J
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28763

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