ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Community Reading Spaces as Social Infrastructure: A Case Study Based on Nanjing, China

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 17 | PUBLIC SPACE

Speaker

Mr Xinkai Yang (School of Achitecture, Southeast University))

Description

With the rapid societal changes and the progress of urbanization, traditional libraries are increasingly unable to meet the diverse cultural service needs. The public’s perception of the role of public reading spaces has gradually shifted from venues that store books to being a form of social infrastructure that promotes social interaction. In recent years, a large number of community reading spaces have been developed in China. These spaces not only carry out traditional libraries’ functions but have also evolved into essential platforms for promoting community interaction, supporting social engagement, and fostering cultural innovation. This study focuses on community reading spaces, conducting a comparative analysis of different operation models to explore how these spaces contribute to social equity and social interaction, with particular attention to design and service.

Grounded on social infrastructure theory, the study interprets the social benefits of community reading spaces from the perspectives of social justice and social support. As social infrastructure, community reading spaces should ensure equal access to cultural resources for all community members, especially in low-income communities. Through decentralized and localized designs, these spaces improve the fairness of cultural services. Secondly, the design of community reading spaces should not only focus on knowledge transmission but also emphasize social support and community interaction. Through flexible layouts and multifunctional space designs, these spaces promote interaction among residents.

The research selected several typical community reading spaces in Nanjing for case comparison and analysis, examining their social justice and social support from three dimensions: operational model, spatial design, and service provision. The cases include public service facilities, creative bookstores, and community cultural centers, which represent service-oriented, profit-driven, and mixed-function types, reflecting the involvement of different stakeholders in the implementation and operation process of community reading spaces. In terms of spatial design, this study analyzes the space layout, functional zoning, and the setting of communication areas, exploring how these elements facilitate social interaction and cultural sharing among community members. Furthermore, the study collected feedback from community residents through surveys and interviews, analyzing the effectiveness and shortcomings of different types of spaces in terms of service quality, cultural function, and social support. The user feedback data also provides strong support for assessing the effectiveness of space design and the fairness of social services, particularly in optimizing space layouts to meet the needs of various community groups, such as the elderly, children, and people with disabilities.

The research results not only reveal the pathways through which different operation models fulfill their functions as social infrastructure but also provide theoretical support for future community reading space designs. Specifically, by enhancing collaboration among different stakeholders and emphasizing the flexibility of space design and the inclusivity of service configuration, community reading spaces can better serve their role as social infrastructure and drive the development of urban culture.