Abstract
In the United Kingdom (UK), over the past three decades efforts have been made to ensure adequate promotion of sustainability objectives through various policy initiatives. However, despite the effort and the existence of these policy initiatives, sustainability projects in particular, regeneration projects are yet to deliver their intended sustainability objectives. While there is a rise in demand for higher sustainability benefits by stakeholders such as clients, communities and policy makers, the delivery of sustainability benefits from sustainability regeneration projects are yet to meet the expectations of these stakeholders. This article provides an overview of sustainability benefits within the context of the sustainable regeneration projects in the UK from a study that examines the roles and sustainability drivers of construction practitioners towards the promotion of sustainability on their regeneration projects. To do so, a qualitative research approach is adopted using a semi-structured interview technique for the study. The data obtained was analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that out of the eight socio-economic sustainability drivers presented to practitioners, enhancement of reputation was the most important ‘socio-economic’ sustainability driver while the least important driver was legislative and legal requirement. The findings further revealed that majority of practitioners/ organisations were promoting the socio-economic sustainability driver they believed will enable them to meet their own corporate business objectives.
Highlights
The United Kingdom (UK) is one of the first developed nations to produce a national strategy on the sustainable development and regeneration concept (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), 2011; Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), 2004)
A typical response given by an interviewee (ARC1) concerning the sustainability principles that were driving the promotion of socio-economic sustainability on their regeneration projects was: ...For us, adopting sustainability helps to enhance our reputation as a sustainable organisation
The study explored eight socio-economic sustainability drivers influencing the promotion of socio-economic sustainability benefits by construction organizations working on regeneration projects in the UK
Summary
Available evidence suggests that the delivery of sustainability projects, such as regeneration projects, which have been designed to promote socio-economic and environmental sustainability benefits has been faced with numerous challenges (Erbey and Erbas, 2017; Winston, 2009). Different construction organisations involved in the delivery of sustainable regeneration projects are seen to be promoting the sustainability principles based on their individual understanding, perceptions and interests (Akotia, Opoku and Hafiz, 2017; Evans and Jones, 2008). The delivery of sustainable regeneration projects requires adoption of sustainability practices and the promotion of social and economic sustainability principles beyond the current consideration given to these core sustainability principles by practitioners on their projects. To achieve this goal means that, practitioners will have to move away from their current practices of delivering regeneration projects to a more ‘sustainability focus’ one that enables projects to deliver their core socio-economic sustainability objectives
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