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 (USS) 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 USS scale are examined using factor analysis. We also illustrate the application of
the USS 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.
History
School
Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Published in
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
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