Abstract: Across Australia planners and policy makers face the challenge of planning for community services and facilities that will meet the needs of the current and future population. Emerging development patterns mean that this challenge includes: designing flexible facilities in newly emerging growth areas; promoting early and appropriate services in locations where residents can access them; and maximizing the use of existing facilities. Very little evidence is available about the social outcomes of community facilities. This paper aims to contribute to the policy debate about community facilities by drawing on three case studies to explore some of the social outcomes associated with community infrastructure. The case studies illustrate the emerging techniques that are being used to monitor the successful social outcomes of community infrastructure. Using the healthy cities and communities evaluation framework the paper illustrates the ways in which emerging approaches to planning community facilities contribute to place making, community building and interorganisational partnerships. The paper highlights the importance of developing measures of the social outcomes of community facilities to better understand the role of community infrastructure in supporting healthy and socially connected communities