Editors’ Letter: OUR COMMUNITY IS AILING — can design be part of the cure?

The symptoms are clear. The diagnosis is certain. The problem is worsening, and without treatment, the prognosis is terrible. What can we do?  

In May 2023, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, issued a dire advisory entitled, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.”1 In it, he noted, among other things, that even before COVID, about half of adults in America reported being lonely, and that only sixteen percent of Americans felt attached to their community. The impact of this on mental and physical health has been horrific. Between 2001 and 2021, the suicide rate among people in their early twenties surged more than 60 percent; the effect on non-suicidal mortality now equals that of smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. 

On top of these medical impacts, Murthy also pointed to the broader socio-political consequences of isolation: “It diminishes civic engagement and social cohesion, and increases political polarization and animosity.” A few months later, Hilary Clinton extended this aspect of the analysis in an essay, “The Weaponization of Loneliness.”2 “When we are less invested in one another, we are more susceptible to polarization and less able to pull together to face the challenges that we cannot solve alone,” she argued. Written in 2023, these sober analyses have been confirmed by the events of 2024 and 2025. And earlier this year, Derek Thompson provided a largely discouraging update on what he calls “The Anti-Social Century.”3   

Can design be part of the solution? Murthy calls for more attention to environmental factors, highlighting the need for improved libraries, schools, parks (and other public spaces), workplaces, and housing. Clinton extends the application of her famous maxim “it takes a village” from the rearing of children to embrace social functionality more generally, and emphasizes the importance of village infrastructure. Thompson suggests that we do not have to allow communications technology to warp and dehumanize the way we design buildings and cities, calling attention, for instance, to the ballooning size of new houses in which every family member has their own large room with a giant flat screen. 

Thompson also reports on a fascinating experiment conducted by Nick Epley with Chicago railroad commuters. One cohort was told to ignore their seatmates, while the others were required to strike up conversations. Although the latter group had to be steered toward socializing, they felt better. Perhaps architects and planners, who for good reason shy away from social engineering, can work in good conscience to bring people together. 

In that spirit, we have sought to make this issue of CONTEXT positive and practical. The tone is set by a review of The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again (2020). Written by Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney, this book extends the analysis of Putnam’s influential work Bowling Alone (2000), which first drew general attention to the phenomenon of community collapse. But as the title of the new book suggests, he now sees a way up and out — but only if we emulate what we did the last time we were a “we” rather than a “me” society. That includes fostering community-centric architecture and urban design. 

The essays, written by three of the most inventive local practitioners of architecture, and the “up close” profile of one of our greatest builders illustrate what that kind of design looks like. As befits the consideration of such an expansive topic, the scale of the discussion is often urban rather than architectural.  

David McHenry and Daniel Kelley both explain how making a “place” for a community is more than making a “space.” Citing the famous observers Jane Jacobs and Winston Churchill, McHenry focuses on the lessons about community-positive design that can be learned by observing human behavior. Kelley emphasizes the humanizing effect of displaying the hand of the maker in assembling the forms and materials of architecture. Nigel Dancy explains how the small-scale, humane texture of Philadelphia’s street grid and Penn’s campus inflected the design of two of the city’s largest new buildings. And master builder Jerry Sweeney fills in the backstory for his simple mantra: “People need, and require, places to gather and find refuge.” 

Individually and collectively, these authors show us how to create the “places” that build healthy communities and nurture a “we” society. 

DAVID BROWNLEE, FSAH 

University of Pennsylvania 

CONTEXT Editor 

DAVID ZAISER, AIA 

HDR 

CONTEXT Editor 

Citations: 

1. “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK595227/) 

2. “The Weaponization of Loneliness.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/hillary-clinton-essay-loneliness-epidemic/674921/)  

3. “The Anti-Social Century.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/)