Relationship between Construction-based Social Sustainability Attributes with Sustainability Assessment Tools

Abstract

Every construction project should be designed to improve the economy, environment, and social dimensions of construction. Unfortunately, most of the previous studies have focused on the dimensions of economy and environment, neglecting the social dimension. The reason might stem from the lack of uniformity in understanding the concept of social sustainability, as well as the difficulty in assessing the attributes due to it being more subjective, as compared to the more quantitative nature of the environment and economic dimensions. Hence, in this paper, a literature review of social sustainability in construction is reported to unpack the definition and attributes of social sustainability, subsequently mapping the social sustainability attributes to the common sustainability practices/assessment tools in construction. Based on the thematic analysis, this review has established nine (9) attributes, namely: 1) health and safety; 2) impact assessment; 3) employment; 4) stakeholder involvement; 5) satisfaction and well-being; 6) education and training; 7) social procurement; 8) protection design/belonging; and 9) human right. The attributes then mapped into the definition of social sustainability provided by the scholars to assist the overall picture of the concept of social sustainability, and the result shows the component of Education/training and Social Procurement not embedded in the definition. The attributes also mapped to the current sustainable assessment tools, and there have limited inclusion of the social dimension. This paper serves as a guide for stakeholders in highlighting the selection of social sustainability attributes for construction projects and as evidence that there are a limited number of social sustainability assessment tools available in evaluating the social performance of construction projects. The findings would be beneficial in improving social performance and mitigating negative social impacts.