This is a summary of the book titled “Palaces for the people” written by Eric Klinenberg and published by Crown in 2019. The author explains “How social infrastructure can help fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life”. The term social infrastructure refers to shared public spaces such as libraries, parks and coffee shops. His examples include a hurricane shelter in Houston that was made out from a church and vacant lots in Chicago that was converted into an urban farm. He is upbeat about innovative ways to improve, expand and maintain such structures and refers to them as an indicator of the health of a community and how it avoids crime. Libraries are a must in his inclusive list of such infrastructure. He lists threats such as commercial development that brings gentrification, absence of such infrastructure that leads to poorer health of already suffering communities, and shortcomings in disaster preparation. He aims this treatise exclusively for the United States.

 Social infrastructure is crucial for a community's health and well-being, as it includes buildings, public spaces, parks, libraries, and coffee shops. For example, public libraries offer a free, open place for people to socialize and volunteer organizations to meet. Libraries serve as bedrocks of civil society and offer responsibility and independence for young people. However, many libraries suffer from neglect due to reduced funding and services.

Social infrastructure can also play a role in preventing crime. Cities often focus on individual offenders, but experts suggest that focusing on the environments where crime flourishes, such as empty lots and abandoned buildings, may be more effective. Philadelphia researchers found a 39% drop in gun violence in areas around repaired structures and a 5% reduction in gun violence in vacant lots.

Research by landscape architect William Sullivan and environmental scientist Frances Kuo found that vegetation provides social benefits, such as lower crime rates in areas around buildings. Building prisons for the poor has been a main crime reduction policy, but the social costs have been as great as the economic expenses.

Commercial development can lead to increased property values and rents even as it displaces residents, and causes a decrease in crime rates. Yale professor Andrew Papachristos found a correlation between the number of new coffee shops and a reduction in local murder rates, regardless of the neighborhood's residents. However, street robberies rates declined in primarily white and Latino neighborhoods but tended to rise in gentrifying neighborhoods with primarily Black residents. This suggests that gentrification is not a viable anticrime strategy due to its social costs.

Social infrastructure is crucial for the health of people in poorer communities, as opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels in small and rural areas. Modern infrastructure, such as reliable power, clean water, fast transit, affordable food, and resilient structures, has improved public health more than any other modern intervention. In some areas, community activists and social entrepreneurs have turned vacant lots into urban agriculture, providing fresh, healthy food from farmer’s markets, fostering social ties, and reducing stress levels. A robust social infrastructure provides opportunities for the elderly to socialize and stay active, as seen in Singapore's high-rise complexes.

Social infrastructure is crucial in times of disaster, as societies worldwide invest trillions in hard infrastructure to cope with storms, floods, heat, drought, and migration. Religious groups and community organizations play a vital role in recovery from disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Sandy. Policymakers are seeking creative ways to construct protective systems that double as social infrastructure, such as the Potomac Park Levee in Washington, DC, and Singapore's Marina Barrage and Reservoir project in Singapore. Grassroots organizations have devised innovative schemes for adapting to high waters, such as Bangladesh's "floating schools and libraries" program. Investors, including PayPal founder Peter Thiel, are backing floating-city concepts. The United States must rebuild its social infrastructure, as most significant infrastructure is a product of state funding or private philanthropy. Social infrastructure can determine the number of opportunities for meaningful social interactions and can make the difference between life and death during crises.