Urban Social Sustainability: The Notion and the Measurable Aspects

Abstract

Introduction: Urban social sustainability is about people’s quality of life, now and in the future. It is enhanced by development, which provides the right infrastructure to support a strong social and cultural life, opportunities for people to get involved, and scope for the place and the community to evolve. The present descriptive paper, based on a theory-oriented explanatory study, tries to comprehend the notion of 'Urban Social Sustainability' and identify its quantifiable features. Methodology: With the help of the ‘desk research’ methodology, the present empirical theory-oriented descriptive study aims to present the perspective (abstraction and interpretation) of ‘Urban Social Sustainability’ and its measurable aspects. To get insight into the objectives, the ‘desk research’ methodology has been used in this study. The study essentially involves the collection and collation of related information from various resources. Several documents, ranging from scholarly literature to government reports and pertinent acts (state and/or central), have been reviewed. Result: There are influences from some external factors on the dynamic process of Urban Social Sustainability on regional and spatial scales, including service provision by local government and local economic, environmental, and political aspects at a broader scale. Conclusion: The present paper figures out the measurable aspects of Urban Social Sustainability and finds out the linkages between them. The "Common Accredited Indicators" are principally categorised into two groups: (a) indicators of equality in social infrastructure (basic amenities and social infrastructure) and (b) indicators of community sustainability