Creating Urban Social Sustainability – A case study of stakeholder involvement and success factors in urban development projects in Angered

Abstract

This study focuses on the complex issue of creating socially sustainable urban development, with a specific focus on stakeholder involvement. In recent years the notion of sustainable cities has achieved political momentum (Dempsey et al., 2009). Even so, in practice little focus has been paid to the social dimension of sustainability (Zheng, Shen and Wang, 2014), and it is still a concept in conflict (Vallance, Perkins and Dixon, 2011). Urban development projects affect several organisations and individuals, and involving these stakeholders in the process is therefore necessary (Yang, 2014). Furthermore, some scholars suggest that stakeholder involvement is important since it can lead to more just societies if addressed in the right way (Jones, 2003). The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how to create socially sustainable urban development. In order to achieve this purpose a qualitative case study of urban development projects within the city district of Angered has been carried out. The empirical material has been collected through both interviews and document collection. By analysing this material the study aims at describing success factors in the projects, how different stakeholders were identified and involved, and the importance of a common definition of social sustainability in urban development projects. The empirical evidence reveals that the actors used an empirical perspective in the identification of relevant stakeholders for the projects, but without being aware of the terminology. Furthermore, it shows that stakeholders from the three groups governments, residents and private- and public sector were involved in the process, however they all had different roles, impacting the process in different ways. The study concludes that within every individual project, it is important to discuss which, when and how to involve the different stakeholders in an efficient and participating way. Moreover, a conclusion is that sharing a common definition of social sustainability is not the most important success factor in socially sustainable urban development. Instead it is of crucial importance to collaborate within every individual project, and agree upon a common direction.