Ray Oldenburg

Ray Oldenburg was an American urban sociologist who is known for writing about the importance of informal public gathering places for a functioning civil society, democracy, and civic engagement. He coined the term "third place" and is the author of The Great Good Place and the 2001 Celebrating The Third Place. With his coauthor Karen Christensen, to whom he left the task of completing a sequel, he continued to argue that third places are the answer to loneliness, political polarization, and climate resilience. The original The Great Good Place was republished in print in 2023 and audio in 2025.