Meaningful urban neighbourhoods, measurable social impact
R. Ammiwala (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
G.A. van Bortel – Mentor (TU Delft - Real Estate Management)
R.C. Rocco de Campos Pereira – Mentor (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
B. Groothuijse – Mentor (TU Delft - Berlage)
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Abstract
In response to the growing emphasis on social sustainability in urban redevelopment, this thesis investigates how Dutch developers define and implement strategies concerning affected communities in the built environment. With the recent introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the associated ESRS S3 standard on affected communities, developers are increasingly expected to disclose the social impacts of their projects. However, translating these abstract and highlevel regulatory principles into practice remains a challenge, particularly in the absence of sector-specific tools.
To address this gap, this research compares and integrates the ESRS S3 standard with the academic framework of Shirazi & Keivani (2018), which results in an adapted framework that combines regulatory expectations with socio-spatial indicators. Experts were interviewed to refine and validate the framework. The adapted framework is then applied to two redevelopment cases, Katendrecht (Rotterdam) and Dreven, Gaarden, Zichten (Den Haag). Through interviews with developers, the study identifies their definitions, strategies and objectives surrounding social sustainability and affected communities. These are mapped onto the adapted framework to assess where they align, diverge or extend its dimensions. Additional interviews with municipal representatives and local community actors further broaden and deepen the understanding of how social sustainability is interpreted and experienced in practice.
Findings show that developers increasingly recognize social sustainability as a multidimensional and collaborative practice, but their approaches remain strongly shaped by system-world logic, such as policy, targets, feasibility and formal participation processes. Local representatives reveal how lived experiences, identity, cultural practices and everyday routines shape the perceived impact of redevelopment, factors that are often underrepresented in formal strategies. The analysis highlights a reoccurring tension between system world requirements and lifeworld realities, underscoring the need for context sensitivity, long-term governance and continuous engagement.
The study concludes by refining the adapted framework and presenting operational tools that enable developers to translate social sustainability principles into concrete, measurable and meaningful practices, contributing to socially responsible reporting and to the creation of meaningful neighbourhoods with measurable social impact.