A question of social sustainability: Urban interventions in critical neighbourhoods in Portugal and Norway

Abstract

Urban interventions in deprived neighbourhoods rank high on the agenda in European countries. This article explores what aspects of targeted urban-area interventions involve and appreciate local people during the intervention process so that they become motivated to continue to take care of and develop their area afterwards. Local social sustainability stands out as a necessary prerequisite for continued upkeep of upgraded urban neighbourhoods. The analysis builds on a 'most different approach', a comparison of interventions in the far south (Lisbon) and north (Oslo) of Europe. The article concludes that in addition to relevant goals and progress, local support was conditioned on how goals, organization and participation were worked out and implemented.

Determining the Interaction of Social Sustainability with the Physical Environment: A Case Study of Adana, Turkey

“…There is an extensive body of literature concerning the societal and physical criteria of social sustainability. These criteria can be summarized as justice and social equity [9,18,23,25], cohesion [1,19,23], integration [21,30,31], social network [31,32] and social capital [1,2,9], security [5,11,33], social infrastructure [25,34], activities [33,35,36], participation and democracy [5,14,37], governance [25,30,38], property acquisition [21], inclusion [11,18,33], diversity [3,5,9], social stability [32], identity and cultural heritage [30,33,37], legibility [34], imageability [39], quality of environmental structures [40], and health [21,33].…”

“…Participation and democracy. Søholt et al [38] underscored participation and democracy as crucial mechanisms for enhancing knowledge, capacity, and confidence. Matthies et al [78] posit participation as central to the normative aspects of social sustainability, while McIntye-Mills [79] stresses the significance of social services for sustaining social infrastructure.…”

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

“…This seems especially true when it comes to the implementation of social sustainability goals in the context of planning, as there seems to be a lack of understanding of the relationship between planning and social sustainability goals that are often normative and visionary. This is not least in terms of practical implementation of urban social sustainability goals and programs on a local community/city level [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The concept of urban social sustainability is a tricky one.…”

“…The topic of urban social sustainability has received attention in the literature (e.g., [15][16][17]30,42,43]. The notion of urban social sustainability is discussed from different disciplinary perspectives and with emphasis on different components of social sustainability that constitute the notion in each specific study.…”

“…Urban social sustainability has also been in focus in recent studies from the Nordic countries. They too offer a variety of perspectives and key problems related to the realization of social sustainability in cities, for example, trust (e.g., [44]), housing (e.g., [16,47]), segregation (e.g., [15]); urban form, architecture and urban design (physical space) and its role in framing social sustainability (e.g., [48], focusing on the transformative role of urban architecture for social sustainability in Oslo). In some of them, the existence of conflicts or tensions between the different actors is acknowledged, but they rarely provide any detailed examination of the conflict's role in the implementation of the ideals of urban social sustainability into practice.…”