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 undertheorized 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 it is time for research to move beyond conceptual work and address the practical and operational aspects of social sustainability.
