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Towards a socially sustainable built environment: a comparative assessment of urban neighbourhoods in Istanbul

Alaa Alsherfawi Aljazaerly (Division of Global Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan)
Seth Asare Okyere (School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA)
Stephen Leonard Mensah (Department of City and Regional Planning, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA)
Matthew Abunyewah (The Australasian Centre for Resilience Implementation for Sustainable Communities, Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia)
Louis Kusi Frimpong (Department of Geography and Earth Science, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, Ghana)
Michihiro Kita (Division of Global Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan)

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment

ISSN: 2046-6099

Article publication date: 26 April 2024

142

Abstract

Purpose

Integrating and advancing social sustainability is foundational to achieving the urban sustainable development goals. Given the rapid transformation of cities in the Mediterranean region, this study sought to assess residents' evaluation of social sustainability in two socio-spatially diverse neighbourhoods of metropolitan Istanbul.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey, adapted from an empirically well-tested and robust social sustainability framework, was used to collect data from 197 residents from Balat and Rasimpasa neighbourhoods in Metropolitan Istanbul. The study then employed quantitative analytical techniques such as independent sample t-tests and Pearson correlation to analyse the sample data.

Findings

In both neighbourhoods, accessibility and participation were ranked the highest and lowest dimensions of social sustainability, respectively. However, the t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the two neighbourhoods regarding social networking and interaction, safety and security and participation. The differences align with emerging studies on urban social sustainability in the Mediterranean and European cities that when considered from urban spatial contexts, significant differences emerge from a social network and safety perspective.

Practical implications

Our study invites urban planners and policy makers attention to and emphasise on lowly evaluated social sustainability dimensions such as participation in their efforts to promote sustainable urban development at the neighbourhood level. We reason that opening the decision-making process to include diverse voices and experiences of residents through participatory workshops might offer opportunities for context-specific, citizen-led urban planning and design strategies that are socially sustainable.

Originality/value

Previous studies have not fully accounted for how various socio-spatial contexts at the neighbourhood level shape differential evaluation of social sustainability. This paper extends the emerging work on urban social sustainability by situating residents’ evaluation of social sustainability indicators across two unique neighbourhoods with gridded and organic spatial characteristics in Istanbul. This paper is an important addition to ongoing work on how spatial organisation of neighbourhoods can influence experiences of social sustainability from an urban planning and design perspective.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The first author expresses appreciation to Professor Cihangir Istke and Professor Zuhal Ulusoy (Istanbul Biligi University) for their support during fieldwork in Istanbul. Alaa Alsherfawi Aljazaerly received funding from “K. MATSUSHITA FOUNDATION (Grant No. 22-G-34) to undertake fieldwork in Istanbul).

Citation

Alsherfawi Aljazaerly, A., Okyere, S.A., Mensah, S.L., Abunyewah, M., Frimpong, L.K. and Kita, M. (2024), "Towards a socially sustainable built environment: a comparative assessment of urban neighbourhoods in Istanbul", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-11-2023-0372

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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