Designing for social sustainability RTPI Scotland Centenary Conference

7th October 2014

Social Life’s aim is to put people at the heart of placemaking, we work in the UK and internationally.

We continue to build neighbourhoods that fail to thrive as flourishing communities

Where are the people?

200 years plus of large-scale planned new communities in the UK but still relatively little known about what makes places thrive and how to support social life of places.

The first question: what is a community?

Source: Egan Review 2004

An alternative view

•  Physical boundaries to promote geographical identity

•  Local myths & stories •  Strong social relationships, networks &

bonds •  Rituals and rhythms •  Shared belief systems, garden cities,

new towns, eco-cities •  Visible leadership.

What is social sustainability?

“A process for creating sustainable, successful places that promote wellbeing, by understanding what people need from the places they live and work. Social sustainability combines design of the physical realm with design of the social world – infrastructure to support social and cultural life, social amenities, systems for citizen engagement and space for people and places to evolve.”

Source: Social Life (2012). Design for Social Sustainability: a framework for creating thriving communities.

Designing for social sustainability?

A framework for social sustainability

Summer 2014: benchmarking the Aylesbury estate, Southwark – ongoing monitoring and learning for next 20 years

13

Working with the Swedish city of Malmö: how can we put people at the centre of placemaking in Lindängen?

Measuring social sustainability

•  Pic and v short description

We have developed a social sustainability measurement framework for The Berkeley Group

Empire Square Imperial Wharf

Knowle Village The Hamptons

And

We have just finished a social sustainability toolkit for Sutton Council in South London

Bed

V

oice

& inÁ u

ence Amenities & infrastructure Social & Cultural Life Adaptabilit

y & R

esili

ence

Piloted in Beddington

New pilot starting now for Genesis Housing Association in Shoreditch with Commonplace – collecting social sustainability data from residents digitally.

We have learnt that social sustainability is: •  A valuable tool for thinking

differently about place •  Not fully covered by existing

frameworks •  A way of bringing in concepts that

challenge conventional views •  Capable of being understood,

quantified & actioned •  An evolving field internationally.

social-life.co nicola.bacon@social-life.co @SL_Cities