An Integrated Model of Achieving Social Sustainability in Urban Context through Theory of Affordance

Abstract

The concept of “Affordance” is increasingly used among urban designers because it adds theoretical clarity to the understanding of the link between the environment, human behavior, and human needs fulfillment. Affordances emerge only when the different characteristics of individuals, such as their physical dimension and abilities, social needs and personal intentions are matched with the features of the environment. However, in formalizing social sustainability, a central issue to be addressed is the relation between people and their environment in social sustainability processes. The definition of “Affordance” of a particular urban context will provide the means to make precise the opportunities for achieving social sustainability. With reviewing the related literature, it is concluded that the multidisciplinary relations between “Human Needs” and “Social Sustainability” with the aim of “Theory of Affordance” has been out of scholar's agenda. This paper fills this gap with proposing an integrated model of fulfilling human needs in urban context through achieving social Sustainability with the aim of cognitive affordance.