Social Sustainability and New Communities: Moving from concept to practice in the UK

Social sustainability is an emerging field of urban planning policy and practice. While a social dimension to sustainability is now widely accepted as important (alongside environmental and economic dimensions) it is under-theorized and not clearly defined in policy discourse or practice. Much academic work about social sustainability focuses on defining and theorising the multiple and fluid interpretations of the concept, ranging from philosophical and political ideas of human rights, wellbeing, equality and social justice, to related ideas of community social capital and empowerment. This paper argues that closer attention should be paid to the practical and operational aspects of social sustainability, in particular, to understanding how the concept is translated by different actors and used as justification for making decisions about interventions and investments in the material and social fabric of cities. (c) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.