Trend Social connection is entering the design brief as physical infrastructure

Summary

GWI's Wellness Communities and Real Estate Initiative reports that social connection is becoming part of the developer's design brief. More master-planned communities are adding what it calls social infrastructure. This includes architecture with front porches, third places designed for people to linger, walkable layouts that produce chance meetings and planned programming that gives residents reasons to come together. The shift follows the 2023 US Surgeon General advisory on loneliness, and a 2025 study linked well-kept social infrastructure to lower loneliness. The Initiative says younger generations are driving demand for spaces that foster belonging. It argues that connection is a design decision with measurable effects on resident satisfaction, retention, community health and asset performance.