TY - JOUR
T1 - Are good intentions enough? Evaluating social sustainability in urban development projects through the capability approach
AU - Janssen, Céline
AU - Basta, Claudia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Social sustainability is a multidimensional concept sensitive to the contexts of its application. This study explores how it is interpreted and applied in urban planning practices in which general social sustainability goals are translated into specific urban design interventions. Building upon Sen’s Capability Approach (CA), we analyse the gap between the operationalization of social sustainability goals in Urban Development Projects (UDPs) from the perspective of urban planners, and the following experiences of the residents in the developed urban areas. By applying a capability-based evaluative framework to a UDP in Amsterdam, the study reveals that residents value distinct urban functionings and experience different enabling factors related to urban social sustainability. We conclude that the CA provides an operationalizable framework for assessing how social sustainability goals defined at the early stage of UDPs translate in the actual capabilities of the urban residents for whom those very goals were conceived.
AB - Social sustainability is a multidimensional concept sensitive to the contexts of its application. This study explores how it is interpreted and applied in urban planning practices in which general social sustainability goals are translated into specific urban design interventions. Building upon Sen’s Capability Approach (CA), we analyse the gap between the operationalization of social sustainability goals in Urban Development Projects (UDPs) from the perspective of urban planners, and the following experiences of the residents in the developed urban areas. By applying a capability-based evaluative framework to a UDP in Amsterdam, the study reveals that residents value distinct urban functionings and experience different enabling factors related to urban social sustainability. We conclude that the CA provides an operationalizable framework for assessing how social sustainability goals defined at the early stage of UDPs translate in the actual capabilities of the urban residents for whom those very goals were conceived.
KW - Amsterdam
KW - capability approach operationalization
KW - evaluative framework
KW - Social sustainability
KW - urban development projects
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141190439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09654313.2022.2136936
DO - 10.1080/09654313.2022.2136936
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141190439
SN - 0965-4313
VL - 32
SP - 368
EP - 389
JO - European Planning Studies
JF - European Planning Studies
IS - 2
ER -