Urban fringe housinghousing \b developments present distinct challenges for social connection, with diverse populations, long work commutes, and limited local meeting places potentially increasing residents’ risk of isolation. This chapter presents findings from theurban fringe \b Activating Social Connection Study (2022–25), analysing lengthy interviews with 44 residents from three rapidly growing Melbourne suburbs. Using our interdisciplinaryinterdisciplinary \b social connection model, we examine how people build and maintain relationships across physical and digital spaces. The findings reveal the complex ways residents navigate social connection: managing time and emotional investments in relationships, using various community spacescommunity spaces \b and activities for connection, and progressing through different stages of establishing community ties. Digital platformsdigital platforms \b emerge as integral to modern social connection, offering new ways to maintain existing relationships and build new ones. While participants readily described their close relationshipsclose relationships \b and community participation, they found it harder to identify broader support networks or articulate how they develop new connections. These findings demonstrate the model’s value for understanding contemporary social connection experiences and highlighting aspects that might otherwise remain hidden from view.