Brokered by Place: How Spatial Capital Shapes Companionship and Care in Later Life

As care systems face capacity strains, the “community turn” in the geographies of care has redirected attention to the role of informal care networks. Central to these networks is social capital, encompassing benefits of trust, resources, and belonging derived from social relations. Yet, how place shapes these interactions remains underexplored. This article develops spatial capital to recognize how places themselves function as brokers within social networks. Spatial capital is defined as the accumulated stock of informational, practical, and emotional benefits generated when everyday places broker social connections. Drawing on mixed-method social network analysis (SNA) combining survey data (n = 646) with in-depth interviews (n = 30) among older adults in Singapore, this study extends beyond SNA’s traditional actor-centric focus to examine how third places broker relationship formation. The study develops three sociospatial typologies—Communal Gazers, Seeking Groupies, and Traversing Nomads—reflecting distinct patterns in how older adults leverage places to build connections. Neighborhood (e.g., corridors, pavilions) and extralocal spaces (e.g., eateries, friends’ homes) foster bridging across unconnected circles and bonding within existing ties. The analysis also highlights the significance of fleeting encounters, brief yet consequential interactions that supplement durable ties within older adults’ care assemblages. Moreover, older adults exhibit spatial adaptability by selectively frequenting places to minimize strain in social relationships. Findings reveal how place is co-constitutive of the social in care relationship formation. This reconceptualization of spatial capital as generated through place-based brokerage advances spatially attuned SNA and contributes to care assemblage scholarship by demonstrating how informal, place-mediated relationships constitute crucial resources in later life.