The fabric of a community and the community pool of human resources
available to it is often called its “social capital.” This term refers
to the individual and communal time and energy that is available for
such things as community improvement, social networking, civic
engagement, personal recreation, and other activities that create social
bonds between individuals and groups.
The way that we design our communities and the commuting distances and
times that result can affect the amount of time that is available for
Circumstances that prevent or limit the availability of social capital for
a community and its members can have a negative effect on the health and
well-being of the members of that community. These negative effects on
health and well-being can in turn have negative effects on the community
as a whole.
For more information about social capital and community design, refer
to the
following resources:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Landscape and Human Health Laboratory
(http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/)
The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory (LHHL) is a multidisciplinary research
laboratory dedicated to studying the connection between greenery and human health.
Additional information on social capital and related topics can be found
in the Additional Resources section.
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