The Role of User Participation on Social Sustainability: A Case Study on Four Residential Areas

The rapid growth of the human population and the
environmental degradation associated with increased consumption of
resources raises concerns on sustainability. Social sustainability
constitutes one of the three dimensions of sustainability together with
environmental and economic dimensions. Even though there is not an
agreement on what social sustainability consists of, it is a well known
fact that it necessitates user participation. The fore, this study aims to
observe and analyze the role of user participation on social
sustainability. In this paper, the links between user participation and indicators of
social sustainability have been searched. In order to achieve this, first
of all a literature review on social sustainability has been done;
accordingly, the information obtained from researches has been used
in the evaluation of the projects conducted in the developing
countries considering user participation. These examples are taken as
role models with pros and cons for the development of the checklist
for the evaluation of the case studies. Furthermore, a case study over
the post earthquake residential settlements in Turkey have been
conducted. The case study projects are selected considering different building
scales (differing number of residential units), scale of the problem
(post-earthquake settlements, rehabilitation of shanty dwellings) and
the variety of users (differing socio-economic dimensions). Decisionmaking,
design, building and usage processes of the selected projects
and actors of these processes have been investigated in the context of
social sustainability. The cases include: New Gourna Village by
Hassan Fathy, Quinta Monroy dwelling units conducted in Chile by
Alejandro Aravena and Beyköy and Beriköy projects in Turkey
aiming to solve the problem of housing which have appeared after the
earthquake happened in 1999 have been investigated. Results of the
study possible links between social sustainability indicators and user
participation and links between user participation and the
peculiarities of place. Results are compared and discussed in order to find possible
solutions to form social sustainability through user participation.
Results show that social sustainability issues depend on communities'
characteristics, socio-economic conditions and user profile but user
participation has positive effects on some social sustainability
indicators like user satisfaction, a sense of belonging and social
stability.

Authors:

• Hasan Taştan
• Ayşen Ciravoğlu

Keywords:

• Housing projects
• Residential areas
• Social sustainability
• User participation.

References:

[1] WCED, & World Commission on environment and development.
(1987). Our common future. Oxford.
[2] Yüksek M. “Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma ve Türkiye’de Çevre Politikaları”,
Gaziantep Üniversitesi Yüksek Lisans Tezi, 201
[3] Özaloğlu, S. ve Fehim Kennedy, N., (2009). ''Katılımcı Mimarlık:
Nereye Kadar?'', Mimarlık, vol.346: 33-40
[4] Oktay, D., (1990). ''Tasarımda Kullanıcı Katılımı'‘, Mimarlık, vol.243:
syf 32
[5] Sanoff, H. 1994, Participatory Design, BookMasters, Mansfield, Ohio.
[6] Davidson, K. & Wilson, L. (2009) A critical assessment of urban social
sustainability. Adelaide, The University of South Australia.
[7] Chan, E. H. W., & Lee, G. K. L. (2008). Critical factors for improving
social sustainability of urban renewal projects. Social Indicators
Research, 85(2), 243-256.
[8] Cuthill, M. (2010). Strengthening the ‘social’ in sustainable
development: Developing a conceptual framework for social
sustainability in a rapid urban growth region in Australia. Sustainable
Development, 18(6), pp.362-373.
[9] Murphy K. 2012. The social pillar of sustainable development: a
literature review and framework for policy analysis. Sustainability:
Science, Practice, & Policy8(1):15-29. Published online Mar 13, 2012.
[10] Dempsey, N. et al., (2011). The social dimension of sustainable
development: Defining urban social sustainability. Sustainable
Development, 19(5), pp.289 300.
[11] Enyedi, G. (2002). Social sustainability of large cities. Ekistics, 69 (412–
414), 142–143
[12] Sachs, Ignacy (1999), Social sustainability and whole development:
exploring the dimensions of sustainable development. In: B. Egon and J.
Thomas, Editors, Sustainability and the social sciences: a
crossdisciplinary approach to integrating environmental considerations
into theoretical reorientation, Zed Books, London
[13] Littig, B. and Griessler, E. (2005). Social sustainability: a catchword
between political pragmatism and social theory, International Journal of
Sustainable Development 8 (1–2), pp. 65–79.
[14] McKenzie, S. (2004). Social sustainability: towards some definitions,
Hawke Research Institute working paper series; no. 27.
[15] Bramely, G. and Power, S. (2009). Urban form and social sustainability:
the role of density and housing type, Environment and Planning B:
Planning and Design, 36, 30-48.
[16] Vavik, T. & Keitsch, M. 2010. Exploring relationships between
universal design and social sustainable development: some
methodological aspects to the debate on the sciences of
sustainability. Sustainable Development 18(5):295–305.
[17] Partridge, E. (2005). Social sustainability’: a useful theoretical
framework. Paper presented at the Australasian Political Science
Association Annual Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand.
[18] Boström, M. 2012. A missing pillar? Challenges in theorizing and
practicing social sustainability: introduction to the special issue.
Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. 8(1), pp. 3-14
[19] Colantonio, A., (2009), Social Sustainability: A Review and Critique of
Traditional Versus Emerging Themes and Assessment Methods,
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/35867/, 18.11.2015
[20] Missimer, M. (2013) The Social Dimension of Strategic Sustainable
Development, Blekinge Institute of Technology licentiate dissertation
series No 2013:03
[21] Omann, I., & Spangenberg, J. H. (2002). Assessing social sustainability:
The social dimension of sustainability in a socio-economic scenario. In
7th biennial conference of the International Society for Ecological
Economics in Sousse (Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI),
Tunisia), 6–9 March 2002
[22] Hans-Boeckler-Foundation (Ed.) (2001), Pathways towards a sustainable
future, Setzkasten, Düsseldorf.
[23] Department for International Development (DFID), 1999, Sustainable
Livelihoods Guidance Sheets, London
[24] Centre, U. (2010). World Heritage Centre - Safeguarding project of
Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna Village. (online Whc.unesco.org. Available
at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/637/ (Accessed 9 Dec. 2015).
[25] Özaloğlu, S., (2009)., Yeni Gurna: Yerellik Mimar: Hasan Fethi,
http://www.mimarlikdergisi.com/index.cfm?sayfa=mimarlik&DergiSayi
=364&RecID=2225, 15 Haziran 2015
[26] Hassan, 1973, Architecture for the Poor
[27] Özkan, S. ''Yoksulluk Ve Mimari'' Mimarlık dergisi sayı:323,2005
[28] Fethi, H. 1969, Gourna: A Tale of Two Villages
[29] Hawkins, K. (2014). Social housing in Latin America: Red Road flats of
tomorrow? | The Academy of Urbanism. (online)
Academyofurbanism.org.uk. Available at:
http://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/social-housing-in-latin-americared-
road-flats-of-tomorrow/ (Accessed 9 Dec. 2015).
[30] Skene Catling, Charlotte, 2014, “Damned if You Do, Damned if You
Don't: What is the Moral Duty of the Architect?”, The Architectural
Review.
[31] ArchDaily, (2008). Quinta Monroy / Elemental. (online) Available
at:http://www.archdaily.com/10775/quinta-monroy-elemental (Accessed
9 Dec. 2015).
[32] Contemporary Against Me, (2011). Study og Quınta Monroy housing
project around the ıssue of property. (online) Available at:
https://contemporaryagainstme.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/study-ofquinta-
monroy-housing-project-around-the-issue-of-property/ (Accessed
9 Dec. 2015).
[33] Acn Yapı, Referanslarımız, http://acnyapi.com/referanslar-48-detay.html
[34] Okutan, M., Beriköy'ün Tasarımı: Yeşilci Bir Projelendirme Deneyi,
Arradamento Mimarlık sayı:149 syf (114-118)
[35] Sakarya Yenihaber Gazetesi,. (2016). Beriköy yarım kaldı - Sakarya
Yenihaber Gazetesi. Retrieved 11 January 2016, from
http://www.sakaryayenihaber.com/35397-berikoy-yarim-kaldihaberi.
html
[36] Düzce Umut Atölyesi, (2015). Düzce Umut Atölyesi. (online) Available
at: https://duzceumutatolyesi.wordpress.com/ (Accessed 9 Dec. 2015).