The Social Dimension of Sustainable Development: Defining Urban Social Sustainability – Summary
Sonia, Nadia and Farah
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Sustainability: the quality of being able to continue over a period of time. (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019) The paper forms part of the output from the core research programme of ‘CityForm – the Sustainable Urban Form Consortium’, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under its Sustainable Urban Environment (SUE) Programme. (Dempsy, 2009) The Definition of Social Sustainability: ‘places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well planned, built and run, and offer equality of opportunity and good services for all’ (ODPM, 2006, p. 12). UK faced an issue affecting its’ social sustainability after the urban sprawl which occurred due to good value for money housing in the suburbs. This prompted the government to change their regulations in the city to support the private sector in urban property development. In addition, recently, both Liveability and Wellbeing were added to the agenda of Social Sustainability. There are negative sides to the concepts of social cohesion, capital and inclusion. This can be observed if the community becomes insular or exclusive and due to the core of the community which is an existing public issue. Territoriality, as an agent of social cohesion, such territorial norms are commonly perceived as negative. Social sustainability acts as a basis and has been further evolve into looking at liveability and wellbeing to create a high quality of life. Social sustainability is a dynamic concept; never a constant. It is everchanging through continuous development with the environment. The scale will affect the contributory factors involved in urban social sustainability. City scales and spatial scales have different factors and are heavily influenced by the community. Social equity is related to social and environmental exclusion. Where accessibility is a fundamental measure, built environments and facilities play a role in an equitable society. This includes built environments, facilities, services and connectivity of the community to the transport systems. Community and neighbourhood are closely related and interchangeable at times. Territorial dimensions are applied into social sustainability and it is difficult to be divorced from social activity. Analysing the socio-spatial construct, the relationship between intangible communities and tangible neighbourhood are closely connected as how the social activities and interactions are inseparable from its public space. Social capital has been described as ‘social networks and the associated norms of reciprocity’ (Putnam, 2000, p. 21). It refers to features of social organization including trust, the density and knowledge of relationships within networks and obligations and expectations (Pennington and Rydin, 2000). Social capital is liked to social interaction and network, which is the basic process of the formation of human nature and the social order. However, the nature and extent of social capital can influence social cohesion (the ongoing integration of behaviours of residents in a given neighbourhood). The relationship between the urban form and social interaction and networks relate to the density, layout and extent of mixed land uses in a street or neighbourhood. For example, high-density mixeduse streets with overlooking residences are claimed to facilitate social interaction because of the increased range of people using the street. Requirements for a sustainable community include participation in organized activities; Social network and interaction; Community Stability; Sense of Place; Safety and Security; Conclusion: These five dimensions of urban social sustainability are identified as social equity and necessary elements for the sustainability of communities. The collective and active participation of individuals in organized groups within communities, although seemingly more nebulous, is also fundamental to the concept. This dimension is essentially concerned with the continued viability, health and functioning of ‘society’ itself as a collective entity, encompassed in the term ‘community’. In addition, the balanced mix use and the adequate land use can increase the social quality in a certain neighbourhood, which will aid its social sustainability.
Contributors: Farah Arar & Nadia Pinto