Resource Library

Infrastructure investments aren’t neutral. Imagine a future where people’s wellbeing is the starting place for how decisions are made about what, where, when and even whether we build. Our new tool is a step towards that future.

Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Xavier de Souza Briggs and Full Frame Initiative CEO Katya Fels Smyth outline a framework grounded in the Wellbeing Blueprint to guide new investments in the built environment.

The 2022 national infrastructure bill presents a historic opportunity to provide universal access to wellbeing through the built environment. Through a wellbeing lens, we can heal past harms and guide new, equitable infrastructure investments.

Communities, organizations and individuals across the country are already advancing structural change so everyone has a fair shot. The Wellbeing in Action map captures innovations and examples by location, issue area and Wellbeing Blueprint principles.

We participated in an important conversation about how incorporating wellbeing and resilience into infrastructure investments. We discussed ways to promote structural and social investments alongside changes to the built environment, programming and operations.

For change to be sustained, transforming our systems must center community and what matters to people. Three leaders driving change in their communities discuss what it means to center community in ways that recognize, respect and authentically engage people.