Assessing Social Sustainability for Achieving Sustainable Architecture

Isabella M Lami,Beatrice Mecca

doi:10.3390/su13010142

Abstract

Sustainability is an inherent urban and architectural problem. It is simultaneously characterized by many different dimensions, pursuing heterogeneous and often conflicting objectives. To help address these complexities in a structured way, this paper illustrates an integrated assessment framework to tackle social sustainability, in order to support the decision-making process towards sustainable architecture. This integrated decision support framework was applied to a case study concerning a new cultural centre at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy. The aim of this paper is to propose a decision support methodological framework for the analysis, graphical visualization and evaluation of social sustainability of architectural projects. It combines three methods: first, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis, to get a guided understanding of the project and detect the best design strategies; second, the Stakeholder Analysis (SA), to develop a strategic view of the actors involved; third, the Social Return of the Investment (SROI) as a methodological tool for social impact assessment. This framework, presented through the discussion of some project solutions, helps us to analyse the architectural material effect of social sustainability and answer the question: Are we investing properly and creating spaces sufficiently functional to build better conditions for our community and our city?

Highlights

Sustainability is an inherent urban and architectural problem: It is simultaneously characterized by many different dimensions, pursuing heterogeneous and often conflicting objectives
In order to comprehend how to explore the context, understand the objectives and develop solutions with a positive social impact, this paper suggests a methodological framework for the analysis and evaluation of architectural design in respect of social sustainability
These methods of analysis and evaluation are used to inform the design process from the very beginning, with the identification of the problem and the objectives by means of a qualitative investigation, followed in the end by a quantitative analysis. It combines the SWOT analysis, to rationalize the decision-making process and to improve the knowledge about the context; the Stakeholder Analysis (SA) to identify the actors involved in the process, with their objectives and their interactions; and the Social Return of the Investment (SROI) evaluation as a methodological tool for the assessment of the social impacts and of the changes

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability is an inherent urban and architectural problem: It is simultaneously characterized by many different dimensions (economic, environmental and social), pursuing heterogeneous and often conflicting objectives. In order to properly meet all the needs of urban and architectural projects (complex, heterogeneous and potentially energivorous) is crucial to understand the problem, i.e., what are the elements to take into account in order to transform them into design strategies, who are and how to align the stakeholders involved, and how much value is produced by the transformation [1]. Sustainable development became a central concept in the global strategy within the Brundtland Report in 1987 and was defined by three pillars, i.e., economic, environmental and social [2]. We mainly refer to the latter, which remained less explored for years, until the 2000s

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Conclusion