The combined use and perception of space by distinct social groups, as opposed to personal space. ‘Social space is produced by societies according to the spatial practices that exist within the society. The produced space is a set of relations between objects within the space’ (Carter (2004) Am. Ass. Geogrs, Mid. Atlantic Div. Annual Meeting). Social space provides an environmental framework for the behaviour of the group; it is flexible/networked (Peck and Tickell (2002Antipode 34, 3), and multi-layered—‘vulnerability is a multi-dimensional and multi-layered social space defined by political, social and institutional capacities’ (Watts and Bohle (1993) PHG 17).