The Trust Experiments: Rebuilding Community in a World Designed to Divide Us

An acclaimed design thinker argues that our societies have been built to push us apart—but they can be rebuilt for human connection

Social trust is the single most powerful predictor of human happiness. But we are living through a crisis of trust. As people lose faith in neighbours, in strangers and institutions, we are becoming more susceptible to loneliness, division, and extremism.

In The Trust Experiments, Charles Montgomery reveals how this crisis emerged from a collision between human psychology and countless bad design decisions: contemporary homes discourage neighbourly contact. Cities force us into solitary commutes. Social media algorithms widen schisms across society. And governments deepen inequity, breaking trust between people and the institutions that serve us. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

From the baugruppen of Germany to the co-housing villages of Vancouver to the Utopias of Mexico, Montgomery takes us into intentional communities that have been designed to promote mutual care. He meets Taiwanese activists who are using AI to reverse the antisocial and polarising effects of social media. He shows how governments from Denmark to Costa Rica have boosted trust by making their societies fairer. And he shows how we can all use design in our own lives to rebuild the trusting relationships that keep us happy, healthy and strong.