Exploring Social Sustainability: Learning from Perspectives on Urban Development and Companies and Products

Abstract

There is a fragmented approach to social sustainability in the literature, and this paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the meanings and interpretations of that concept whilst reviewing and discussing the social dimension of sustainability from the perspectives of two fields: urban development as well as companies and products. The analysis identifies commonalities and differences in the understanding of the conceptualization of social sustainability and helps identify core aspects which cross disciplinary boundaries. Although there are a number of similarities between the fields, compiling a list of aspects that is representative of social sustainability is not straightforward, as interpretations are context dependant and aspects are often closely interconnected. Differences are frequently due to variations in scoping and context, or whether or not a life cycle perspective is used. Nonetheless, there seems to be an underlying common understanding of what social sustainability is, and a set of key themes (social capital, human capital and well-being) is suggested as an alternative to put more specific measures and indicators in perspective. However, context specific information is still necessary in practical applications.

Social Sustainable Assessment Tool Development Approach

“…The basic quality or objectives consist of a different categories and factors: equity, participation, satisfaction, basic needs, social cohesion, income, well-being, social justice, employment, safety, and education. However, because of the absence of a coordinated applied system and a far-reaching meaning of the idea of social sustainability the thought stays ambiguous to some degree (Littigi & Griebler, 2005;Colantonio, 2009;Colantonia & Dixon, 2011, Jaeger et al, 2011Ahman, et al 2013;Weingaertner & Moberg, 2014). With this instance, green building assessment tool has been duly been affected with a single faced assessment tool developed aimed at attaining sustainable development in the building environment.…”

On the Sustainability of Co-Authoring Behaviors in Vietnamese Social Sciences: A Preliminary Analysis of Network Data

“…[61][62][63][64][65]. However, similar to sustainability and sustainable development, social sustainability suffers from the problem of ambiguity and context-dependence, it is almost chaotic to survey the literature review related to this issue [66,67]. There have been many attempts to develop measures and indicators for social sustainability; however, just like the concept, the measures cover a broad range of aspects [68].…”

Sustainable Renovation Strategy in the Swedish Million Homes Programme: A Case Study

“…Thus, sustainable economic development is about reaching (at least) an acceptable living standard-a safe and just space-for everyone within the ecological limits of the planet; the "environmental space" in which economic activity does not endanger stocks of natural resources, species and ecosystems. In a renovation context, sustainability may be analysed, for example, from a capital stock perspective (capital stocks need to be non-declining over time), from a systems perspective (systems need to be resilient) or from a functionality perspective (societies need to show some capabilities) [19]. We have chosen some aspects that are relevant for operationalising sustainability given the conditions of the case study.…”