Mojtaba Rafieian; Delaram Shojaee
Abstract
Social sustainability to respond to the cities’ social problems and issues and as an efficient dimension in achieving sustainable urban development is a discourse that urban researchers have highly regarded in the last two decades, and researchers have looked at it with different dimensions ...
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Social sustainability to respond to the cities’ social problems and issues and as an efficient dimension in achieving sustainable urban development is a discourse that urban researchers have highly regarded in the last two decades, and researchers have looked at it with different dimensions of the urban built environment. The critical issue is the lack of comprehensive and systematic research in urban built environments, policies and plans. Therefore, the purpose of this study is a meta-synthesis review of selected sources to clarify the dimensions of social sustainability in these areas. Four categories of urban form, policies and plans, dimensions and features and the main areas of social sustainability have been identified by data coding using the MAXQDA software to achieve this goal. By understanding and explaining the stated categories, the results of the studies are presented in a framework of social sustainability, including conceptualization, policy-making and action in the urban built environment. Each dimension enters democracy-based, participation-based, and ideology-based discourses in a more remarkable synthesis. A deep understanding of the results provides a basis for future studies to conduct further studies in each proposed discourse and link them more effectively to social sustainability.
Keywords: Social Sustainability, Built Environment, Democracy, Ideology, Participation.
Introduction
Social sustainability to respond to the cities’ social problems and issues and as an efficient dimension in achieving sustainable urban development is a discourse that urban researchers have highly regarded in the last two decades. In general, despite the recent attention to social dimensions, social sustainability is still under theorization and has been less discussed in urban built environments. The critical issue is the lack of comprehensive and systematic research in urban built environments, policies and plans. Due to the multifaceted nature of social sustainability in these areas, studying these studies from different levels and degrees is necessary. What will be discussed in this study is: according to the review of various sources, what are the dimensions of social sustainability in the urban built environment, despite the importance of the policy and urban planning? Although there have been several studies on social sustainability in urban processes, built environment, urban development, etc., which have described and explained this concept, it seems that there is a lack of research that examines all the dimensions, characteristics and components of this concept and provides a comprehensive understanding of social sustainability in this field.
Methodology
Therefore, the purpose of this study is a meta-synthesis review of selected sources to clarify the dimensions of social sustainability in these areas. The upcoming research has been conducted using seven steps of meta-synthesis review and data coding using the MAXQDA software to achieve this goal. During the information extraction process, 258 primary codes were identified by the software using the open coding approach. In the next step, they were divided into 11 core codes based on common concepts according to the communication process of microdata. Then, by combining the core codes, four categories of urban form, policies and plans, dimensions and features, and the main areas of social sustainability were achieved.
Results & DISCUSSION
The category of urban form is formed by integrating the core codes of density, land use, urban space, housing, accessibility, built environment, housing and spatial structure. The category of policies and plans results from integrating the core codes of regeneration, renovation, urban management, neighborhood development, urban development plans, new urbanism, and TOD. The category of characteristics and contextual factors results from the action of the core codes of dependence on the context, dynamism, dependence on culture, etc. Finally, the category of social sustainability dimensions is formed by integrating the core codes of participation, equality, safety, sense of place, social inclusion, social cohesion, social capital, etc. By understanding and explaining the stated categories, the results of the studies are presented in a framework of social sustainability, including conceptualization, policy-making and action in the urban built environment. Each dimension enters democracy-based, participation-based and ideology-based discourses in a more remarkable synthesis. Democracy, which means equality, requires social policies to move toward sustainability. Moving toward inclusion and social cohesion in urban policies requires a democratic urban context to increase the social capital resulting from this connection and create well-being for the citizens. Social sustainability is discourse-based, and in a way, it is necessary to apply this concept and connect it as much as possible with the discourse of participation. The fact is that none of these concepts alone can explain social sustainability in studies and the urban environment. The connections and categories that make up these concepts are oriented on two levels. The first level includes people, government, and planners; the second level provides knowledge, power and cooperation. This framework creates a different level of interaction with the built environment depending on the political context and the ruling power. Planners can validate the powerlessness and silence of the excluded by representing their values, ideas, and worldviews and somehow turn them into the dominant ideology for achieving sustainability.
Conclusions
A deep understanding of the results provides a basis for future studies to conduct further studies in each proposed discourse and link them more effectively to social sustainability. The significant achievement of this research is combining the results of social sustainability studies in urban studies and providing a different perspective from the aspects presented in the form of a theoretical framework. In addition to defining the direction of urban studies in the field of social sustainability, this theoretical framework can emphasize that the proposed discourses are interwoven and interdependent. And whether social sustainability is used as a goal or a tool, all factors and layers must be considered together.
