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Place-based community networks provide a resource that can be drawn on to protect and promote the wellbeing of residents. We investigate the role of social networking sites (SNSs) in community formation in a new master-planned, mixed tenure, affordable housing estate in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Waimahia Inlet was developed by a consortium of Māori organizations and community housing providers. Community formation was an explicit developer goal with public spaces to encourage face-to-face interaction designed into the development and social infrastructure nurtured on site. New residents were invited to join a closed Facebook group, created and moderated by a residents’ association set up by the developer. In-depth interviews with 38 residents between 2017/18 revealed synergies between residents’ use of online and offline interactional spaces for producing and performing an engaged and …