Urban Social Sustainability Research Articles

Women and Social Sustainability: A Critical Parametric Evaluation of Urban Settings in Developing Countries

Attainment of social sustainability became a focused agenda ever since the United Nations general assembly (UNGA) adopted SDG goals in 2015. Sustainability is an umbrella concept cutting across public, commercial, and environmental domains. However, the idea is still perceived and seen as very narrow and synonymous with eco-friendly only. Gender issues still remain ignored in both academic and applied research as a contributing parameter towards sustainable development. Barely any field of knowledge is working on those concerns. Women empowerment and counterbalancing rigid patriarchy are still perceived as a research area for social sciences rather than holistic understanding and application by other academic disciplines. Urban planning needs a multidisciplinary approach that integrates with various other domains. It demands an amalgamation of analysis and application from multiple perspectives and considerations. The critical phase for urban planning, especially women’s sensitivity, is mostly missing in developing nations like India. Despite women having a more generous and vital contribution toward a city’s growth in cultural and economic terms, they have been under constant subjugation of brutality and suppression. Thus, the city planning process is perpetuating gender disparity, if not promoting explicitly. This study starts with a hypothesis, i.e., “ill-conceived urban planning has a huge stake in prevailing urban crime against women.” The research would later analyze and determine the flaws and loopholes in the planning process, which are in practice. Such lacks in the framework will create cities/urban areas that pose a severe safety and security threat. So, the gender layer during those planning processes may increase gender sensitivity toward women. The research will also explore essential concepts such as universal design and crime reduction through environmental design (CPTED) to assess women-friendly cities’ applicability. Thus, this approach can help deduce planning strategies to create inclusive cities, including urban social sustainability.

Residential segregation and socio-spatial processes in Marseille. Urban social sustainability challenge

Abstract The aim of the study is to determine the scale and patterns of the social segregation of Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis and Marseille, in the light of the socio-spatial processes it is currently undergoing and its influence on social sustainability. In the study, quantitative measures of segregation are confronted with a qualitative interpretation of existing facts gathered during literature analysis and field observations. Population groups most subject to residential segregation are revealed, together with the areas of the greatest concentration of particular population categories. Changes of concentration pattern in the decade 2007–2017 are indicated and the role of gentrification and privatiszation of land, which are all conditioned in Marseille by the city's economic restructuring, liberal housing policy and historical role of the port-industrial system.

Urban Planning as a Strategy to Implement Social Sustainability Policy Goals? The Case of Temporary Housing for Immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden

Planning is one of the envisioned strategies for reaching policy goals of urban social sustainability. However, the practical realization of this vision faces a number of challenges not least due to conflicts of interests and goals that arise in the planning process. There also seems to be a lack of understanding of the relationship between formal planning and social sustainability goals that are often normative and visionary. In order to bridge this knowledge gap, this paper investigates how urban social sustainability can be implemented in urban planning in the context of conflicts of interests and goals. In particular, we explore two questions: (i) whether and how planning procedures are interconnected with local policy goals for social sustainability; (ii) whether and how conflict affects the implementation of these goals through planning. The paper presents a qualitative case study of planning of temporary housing for immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden, where a conflict of interests developed in conjunction with the planning. The local social sustainability goals are operationalized through the specific sub-goals of accessible and more equal living conditions, distribution of and equal access to housing for all groups in the community, and reduced social and ethnic segregation and discrimination in regard to housing. We identify shortcomings in the integration of local urban social sustainability goals into planning procedures and find that conflicts of interests as well as conflicts of priorities within and between the policy goals complicate their integration into formal planning procedures. More attention needs to be given to improved operationalization of the questions of priority and conflict resolution, both in planning and in urban social sustainability policy, if planning is to be considered a viable strategy for implementation of social sustainability goals.

The Role of Urban Space Configuration in Maintaining Social Inclusion: A Comparison of Four Types of Neighborhoods in Greater Cairo Region-Egypt

Since the mid-twentieth century, the process of modernization caused an adaptation of westernized prototypes of residential neighborhoods in Greater Cairo Region. This evolution caused a relevant evolution of various prototypes of urban spaces, an evolution from traditional neighborhoods where street works as public space to new planned neighborhoods that concern quantitative provision of urban spaces as internal gardens inside superblock. The evolution was attractive for residents who escaped crowded traditional neighborhoods and claimed quantitative provision of urban spaces with well-designed landscape to enjoy better living conditions. Egyptian National Organization for Urban Harmony developed urban space design guidelines, to ensure quantitative and accessibility criteria. However, observation of urban spaces in new cities revealed failure to host residents and probably have negative impacts on social inclusion, cohesion, and participation. One reason behind that failure is the lack of empirical knowledge of expected impacts of design guidelines on social behavior. This research examines social sustainability of urban space configuration in four prototypes of neighborhoods, it also questions how socially sustainable are NOUH2010 design guidelines. The research depends on ethnographic observation and questionnaire survey that were conducted in selected neighborhoods. The paper reports, based on empirical findings, that modern urban spaces with quantitative provision of urban-spaces, hierarchical distribution, merged and central location, good accessibility and well-designed landscape are short sighted to achieve urban social sustainability; rather qualitative mixed use is most influential factor to encourage social inclusion, interaction and participation as by-product of movement and as subsidiary to other attractive activities.

Assessment for the Social Sustainability and Equity under the Perspective of Accessibility to Jobs

Social sustainability is a dimension of the concept of sustainability that has gained importance only in the last few decades and can be identified as the pursuit and measure of social equity. Equity can be analyzed under two approaches: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal approach considers the distribution of benefits equally, while the vertical equity considers these same benefits, but between specific groups, which is an adequate approach when dealing with policy-related topics, such as tariff subsidy. Accessibility is a factor that contributes to urban social sustainability and it may be a representation of physical and/or social barriers in the urban environment. Thus, this paper aims to assess social sustainability under a vertical equity approach, based on accessibility to jobs, for different population groups, comparing public with individual motorized transport. The case study was carried out in Medellín-Colombia, using data from the 2017 Home Destination Survey. It was found that users of individual transport have access to a greater number of jobs than users of public transport. In addition, those with higher income have better accessibility than those with lower income, even though they are not beneficiaries of tariff subsidy policies. Another highlight is that areas closer to the central region are also more accessible. In some specific communes, it would be indicated to seek to improve access through public transport, or the implementation of some public policy at the municipal level that could have an impact on access to opportunities.

The Meaning and Content of the Concept of the Social in the Scientific Discourse on Urban Social Sustainability

The introduction and progressive consolidation of the paradigm of sustainability, and specifically that of social sustainability, has led to changes in the content attributed to the idea of the social in scientific discourse on the city and urban contexts. In this article, discourse analysis methods are used to assess these changes quantitatively and qualitatively as well as to highlight the new scientific, political, and ideological content that the concept is acquiring. The conclusion is that two discourses currently compete in redefining the idea of the social in relation to the city: one that we may term traditional or “hard,” linked to ideological positions of the left, and another “soft” or emerging meaning that connects to a great extent with discursive neoliberal logic.

The urban social sustainability paradigm in Northeast Asia and Europe

The urban social sustainability paradigm in Northeast Asia and Europe

Urban social sustainability at the neighbourhood scale: measurement and the impact of physical and personal factors

ABSTRACT Despite its theoretical and practical significance, urban social sustainability research lacks robust definition, conceptualisation and measurement. In addition, the factors influencing people’s perceived feelings about their neighbourhood are underexplored. The aim of this study is two-fold: First, to develop and empirically test the urban social sustainability (USS) measurement model at the neighbourhood scale that captures the multifaceted nature of this complex phenomenon. Second, to use the proposed USS model to examine the role of different physical (urban form) and personal (socio-economic) factors in promoting or weakening various aspects of neighbourhood social sustainability. We conducted factor analysis for testing the dimensionality, validity, and reliability of the USS model. Multiple regression analysis was also used to test the practical implications of the model. Our findings from 251 respondents in five case study neighbourhoods of Dunedin city, New Zealand, provide evidence that the effects of physical and personal factors can differ according to distinct USS dimensions. We found that out of the four physical factors, quality of urban design is the most influential factor, having a significant positive influence on three USS dimensions and the overall urban social sustainability. Among the personal factors, length of residence in a neighbourhood has the most influence on different USS dimensions.

Traces of Social Sustainability in Garden Cities- Karlsruhe as a Case Study

Discussions about sustainable communities as a significant measure in social sustainability began in the 2000s. Sustainable communities are defined as places in which existing and future generations would like to work and live. They contribute to the well-being and quality of life and offer equal opportunities to their residents. The definitions are similar to the objectives of one of the most influential movements in the history of urban planning: the Garden City. The principles of the Garden City are applicable to new and existing towns and its concept has been adopted in different contexts until today. Therefore, many lessons can be learnt regarding sustainable urbanism by studying social sustainability in this type of urban settlement. As a first step towards this aim, this paper studies the experience of living in the Garden City of Karlsruhe today. A survey was conducted among the current inhabitants. The study shows a high level of satisfaction and the tendency for a long residency in the Garden City because of the reasons like ample greenery, central location, and quietness of the settlement. The results will be used as the first dataset for developing a framework for urban social sustainability in the Garden Cities. 
 Keywords: sustainable urbanism, social sustainability, sustainable communities, user satisfaction, Garden Cities

Built environment design - social sustainability relation in urban renewal

Urban renewal practices could improve urban social sustainability with well-designed and well-constructed built environments. This study shows the development of a model, which explains the relation between built environment design and social sustainability in urban renewal. To do so, firstly, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, after which a pilot study was administered. This led to the identification of 32 built environment design elements. Their contributions to social sustainability were evaluated utilizing a survey among 323 people who previously worked in urban renewal projects. The design elements were grouped by exploratory factor analysis under five factors, and these factors were named as, accessibility and quality of social life, conservation of resources, quality of the built environment, protection of disadvantaged groups, and commercial and economic opportunities. Then, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was carried out with 60 academics and practitioners to identify the weights of the factors. Accessibility and quality of social life factor reached the highest weight with 33 %, while the other four factors shared close weights. The model obtained as a result of this study will increase the awareness of urban renewal stakeholders about social sustainability, by demonstrating clearly which design elements should be considered to improve the social sustainability of urban renewal projects.

Measuring urban social sustainability: Scale development and validation

Despite the significant role of social sustainability in the sustainable development agenda, there is a lack of research to clearly define and fully operationalise the concept of urban social sustainability. The aim of this study is to contribute to the existing literature by developing a comprehensive measurement scale to assess urban social sustainability at the neighbourhood level. We argue that urban social sustainability is a multidimensional concept that incorporates six main dimensions of social interaction, sense of place, social participation, safety, social equity and neighbourhood satisfaction. Failure to consider each of these dimensions may lead to an incomplete picture of social sustainability. Validity, reliability and dimensionality of the urban social sustainability scale are examined using factor analysis. We also illustrate the application of the urban social sustainability scale by investigating the influence of quality of design, as one of the least studied factors of urban form, on different dimensions of social sustainability. The paper uses data collected from the household questionnaire survey in a sample of 251 respondents from five case study neighbourhoods of Dunedin city, New Zealand. This study provides new evidence on the significance of improving neighbourhood quality of design and its positive and significant relationship with different dimensions of social sustainability and the overall social sustainability.

Urban streets and urban social sustainability: a case study on Bagdat street in Kadikoy, Istanbul

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the social function of historical public space in Turkey that has been transformed with rise of modernism. Before that, it functioned as a suburban recreational area. The increasing demand for urban lands has been led to its transformation and its function as an urban component. The historical pattern of urban space can be conserved to protect and strengthen social interactions as the key issue of urban social sustainability. With a focus on the urban design through literature review, the aim is to identify the role of social interactions on social sustainability of historical urban street in Turkey. A field survey study was conducted to observe and in-depth interviews to locally evaluate the socio-spatial design principles in Bagdat street, as a research case. Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) and Cognitive Spatial Map (CSM) were used to investigate the spatial experiences of the respondents. Results indicated that the historical continuity of socio-spatial activities through the time in respect to the socio-cultural values and user satisfaction has led to enhance the sense of belongings for citizens. As a conclusion, all data were integrated to propose a socio-spatial framework for designing and developing of Turkish public street, to enhance the urban social sustainability in future communities.

Trade-offs among urban sustainability, pollution and livability in European cities

This paper aims to explore the interactions between urban sustainability, urban pollution and city livability. Specifically, we propose a theoretical model that explains how the three pillars of urban sustainability (economic, environmental, and social) and urban pollution interact and simultaneously affect city livability. These relationships are tested using a structural equation model (SEM) in a sample of responses from 40,798 citizens in 79 European cities and secondary data on urban pollution. Overall, our findings show that although urban economic sustainability is positively associated with urban pollution, it is indirectly negatively associated with urban pollution via urban environmental sustainability and positively associated with city livability via urban social sustainability. In addition, we found that urban social sustainability is positively associated with city livability, while urban pollution is negatively related to city livability. Therefore, our results advance the knowledge on the interplay and trade-offs between the pillars of urban sustainability and their impact on city livability.

Social inclusion in the sustainable neighborhood? Idealism of urban social sustainability theory complicated by realities of community planning practice

Abstract Developing sustainable communities requires urban planners and community organizers to make decisions that affect environmental, economic and social systems. The most underdeveloped of these dimensions remains social sustainability. Communities are met with complex challenges when negotiating concepts of social sustainability, such as social inclusion and nurturing a sense of belonging. This project examines three case studies of neighborhood-scale sustainability planning projects in Portland, Oregon, U.S.; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Nagoya, Japan. Each community is confronting challenges that further blur the lines of what it means to cultivate social sustainability, such as inclusion of sexually oriented businesses and integration of immigrant groups. Grounded theory analysis revealed emergent themes, including negotiating contested land uses, integration of the disenfranchised, and marginalization of the marginalized. Notions of social sustainability are complicated by active inclusion or exclusion of the truly marginalized. This research indicates that continuing sustainability practice without direction for managing the difficult nuances of the social dimension could exacerbate existing inequalities and lead to further social exclusion. This study raises questions of representation, rights to the city, and NIMBY attitudes in planning for sustainable communities and highlights inherent subjectivities in planning for social sustainability.

Transformation of deprived urban areas and social sustainability: A comparative study of urban regeneration and urban redevelopment in Barcelona and Seoul

Transformation of deprived urban areas and social sustainability: A comparative study of urban regeneration and urban redevelopment in Barcelona and Seoul

Exploring the ‘Just City principles’ within two European sustainable neighbourhoods

The objective of this paper is to analyse and compare in detail the social structure of the two most acclaimed European sustainable neighbourhoods, which have had a completely different implementation approach: bottom-up urban development in Vauban (Freiburg) and top-down urban development in Western Harbour (Malmö). The goal is to uncover the unrevealed urban elements that determine social sustainability. The paper uses an innovative methodological framework - the Fainstein’s ‘Just City’ concept, which encompass several social determinants within three main pillars/principles: democracy, equity and diversity. The ‘Just City’ principles and its determinants add a new perspective to social urban manifestation encompassing ‘social justice’ and ‘local governance’ dimensions. These dimensions represent innovative research approaches in exploring urban social sustainability. Through the Just City framework, the social structure of the two representative case studies is dissected to establish the level of urban social sustainability in each urban area. The aim of the paper is to answer to the question: “Do the most acclaimed leading sustainable neighbourhoods embody democratic values, assure equality and respect (allow) diversity?”

Contesting green technology in the city: techno-apartheid or equitable modernisation?

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, heated debate around green technology and its equitable access has aroused the concern of international scholars. This paper provides a review on the exclusion of green technology referred to as ‘green techno-apartheid’ and examines selected key eco-cities (i.e. Masdar, Songdo IBD and Bangalore) considered in the 2013 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report on ‘City-Level Decoupling’ (2013). Metropolitan planning is a crucial instrument in addressing the challenges of urban social sustainability and is thus considered an important mechanism for developing a platform to approach issues of equitable access to green technology. The study reviews five metropolitan plans: the ‘London Plan’ (London, England), the ‘Municipal Plan 2011 for Greater Copenhagen’ (Copenhagen, Denmark), the ‘Economically Strong and Sustainable Structural Vision: Amsterdam 2040’ (Amsterdam, Netherlands), the ‘Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy’ (Hong Kong, China) and the ‘Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036’ (Sydney, Australia). The results of the study suggest that while all these plans focus on promoting green technology within a framework of ecological modernisation, they lack appropriate tools for achieving equitable modernisation and enhancing social equity. Consequently, it is essential that researchers and planners take further steps and develop effective instruments to improve equitable access to green technologies and achieve long-term urban social sustainability.

EVALUATION OF INDIA’S URBAN SOCIAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT USING A COMPOSITE INDEX

India has experienced phenomenal growth in urbanization in the last few decades putting massive pressure on basic infrastructure and services. The objective of this paper is to create a composite social sustainable index for India which will help us to understand the dynamics of social sustainable development .The index will enable prioritization of resource allocation between the various sectors of the social dimension. Secondly the paper attempts to analyse the impact of macro-economic factors like economic prosperity, population, population density, income inequality, environment and migrant influx on social sustainability. It examines all four facets of urban sustainability: social, economic, environmental and institutional, in an integrated manner. The three tiered hierarchical model is tested in the state of Odisha , in Eastern India . Using this framework we go on to obtain a composite index for urban social sustainability which can be applied to all Indian cities with contextual changes. This research shows that in India education is fundamental to improving the social sustainability and urban policies should focus strongly on three critical zones of education, safety and access to basic services.

Social sustainability and residents' experiences in a new chinese eco-city

The article argues for a “humanizing” research agenda on newly-built forms of eco-urbanism, such as eco-cities. Taking the example of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, China, the article focuses on urban social sustainability with a specific focus on the lived experiences of new residents of the newly-built eco-city. Drawing on Jane Jacobs' work on the spaces of the city, the article's focus on residents' experiences underlines the key importance of social sustainability when analysing new flagship urban projects, and highlights the need to consider the relational networks of lived experiences of the city as well as the visions and techno-social designs of planners, policymakers and corporate actors in the development of eco-city projects.

Sustainable Urban Development and Social Sustainability in the Urban Context

Social sustainability and sustainable urban developments are major challenges across the world both developed and developing countries. In general there is a conflict between the approach of sustainable development and social sustainability in the urban context. The concept of sustainability brings a key framework for extensive literature on urban design, architecture and planning. Nevertheless there is a considerable overlap between the social dimensions of sustainability and the theories or notions, for instance the ‘sustainable societies’ that are highlighted in the midst of other aspects: social equity and justice. Such society is widely expected to offer a situation for long-term social relations and activities which are sustainable, inclusive and equitable in a wider perception of the term (environmentally, socially and economically). The method adopted to address this aim involves a content analysis of available academic literature, with focus on the planning sustainable development, built environment, social sustainability, and urban planning fields. The findings demonstrate that in spite of some opposing evidence, many studies have confirmed that there has been displacement of the debate on the term of ‘sustainability’ from ‘ecological and environmental aspects into social and economic aspects’. It is related to how the community feel safe and comfortable living in their own communities, how have they felt of proud of the place where they live. The aim of the paper is to improve our understanding of current theories and practices of planning sustainable development and discuss whether the approach of sustainable development aligns with social sustainability objectives.