Towards digitalisation of socially sustainable neighbourhood design

Abstract

Digital tools for performance-assessment are commonly used to shorten the feedback loop in testing designs for buildings and neighbourhoods. However, these tools do not extend to the social dimension in the same way as the economic and environmental dimensions. This paper aims to contribute to the development of digital tools to design socially sustainable neighbourhoods. We analyse 115 academic articles to establish a theoretical understanding of Social Sustainability (SoSu). Based on these results, we propose a digital user-interaction model to operationalise SoSu in the digital design process of buildings. In the literature, we observe a lack of consensus on the theoretical discussion on SoSu. Several extrinsic and intrinsic factors are identified contributing to this fuzziness; the dependency on stakeholder value systems, the qualitative nature of social indicators, and comparison to environmental sustainability being the most common. Still, we distinguish two overarching categories, social equity and social capital, that are further divided into sub-themes. Having mapped the categories and hierarchies of social themes, we propose a user-interaction model that incorporates these findings into a digital environment. The userinteraction model creates a guided decision-making framework for architects and urban planners by enabling stakeholders to make conscious and informed decisions grounded in theory.

Defining and measuring the effects of digital technologies on social sustainability: A systematic literature review

“…Equality and inclusion Alharthi et al, 2018;Apaydin et al, 2018;Bensi et al, 2011;Bouzguenda et al, 2019;Casal & Ramos, 2017;Charmaraman & Delcourt, 2021;Chavalarias, 2016;Chowdhury, 2013;Deng et al, 2016;Dobrolyubova, 2022;Ekener, 2019;Grybauskas et al, 2022;Ihm & Hsieh, 2015;Jauhiainen et al, 2022;Loebach et al, 2019;Mark et al, 2019;Mastrocinque et al, 2022;Millard et al, 2018;Ochara & Mawela, 2015;Okon, 2009;Papadopoulos & Broadbent, 2009;Pat on-Romero & Jaccheri, 2021;Pick & Sarkar, 2016;Rosário & Dias, 2022;Somanath et al, 2021;Stojanova et al, 2022;Sultana et al, 2021;Webster & Leleux, 2019;Zavratnik et al, 2020Jobs Begum et al, 2022Brozzi et al, 2020;Deng et al, 2016;García-Muiña et al, 2021Genz et al, 2019;Ghobakhloo et al, 2022;Grandi et al, 2021;Gregori et al, 2017;Grybauskas et al, 2022;Hohn & Durach, 2021;Klier et al, 2019;Loganathan, 2022;...…”

Effects of Sustainability Policy – Evaluating Social Consequences of Carbon Targets using Trip Completion Rates

“…Social sustainability in the built environment is a complex subject [7] primarily due to fuzzy boundaries and difficulty in measurement [8]. Quality of Life is often used as an indicator to assess the social impacts of urban development.…”

“…The policy targets are evaluated across a regional level and municipalities using Trip Completion Rates to evaluate whether the proposed policy affects one group disproportionately compared to another. The digitalisation of the built environment can enable planners and policymakers to understand the social consequences of sustainability targets and provide equitable solutions to realise them at the early stages of the planning process [8].…”

Advancing Environmental Sustainability and Smart City Solutions: Insights from Innovative Research

“…As urban populations continue to swell, the imperative to mitigate these environmental footprints while enhancing quality of life and resilience has never been more pressing. Concurrently, the emergence of smart technologies offers unprecedented opportunities to harness datadriven insights, optimize resource utilization, and catalyze sustainable urban transformations (Somanath et al 2021;Belaïd 2022a Belaïd ,b, 2024.The articles within this special issue represent a diverse array of research endeavors, each contributing a unique perspective to the multifaceted discourse on environmental sustainability and smart cities solutions. From empirical investigations elucidating the intricate relationships between energy consumption and carbon emissions (Kisswani 2022; Mukhtarov 2023) to theoretical frameworks elucidating the complexities of strategic environmental policy-making (Chang and Sellak 2022), the contributions herein offer a rich tapestry of insights and empirical evidence (Dahmani 2023;Youjin, 2024).Spanning across geographical and disciplinary boundaries, these articles underscore the interconnectedness of environmental sustainability and smart urban development.…”

“…As urban populations continue to swell, the imperative to mitigate these environmental footprints while enhancing quality of life and resilience has never been more pressing. Concurrently, the emergence of smart technologies offers unprecedented opportunities to harness datadriven insights, optimize resource utilization, and catalyze sustainable urban transformations (Somanath et al 2021;Belaïd 2022a Belaïd ,b, 2024.…”