Social sustainability for health and well-being in port areas: A general framework proposal with a social value approach

Abstract

Sustainability is becoming increasingly critical in the port business, which generates economic, environmental, and social impacts in and around port areas. This study, focusing on social sustainability, intends to investigate the potential creation of multi-functional social health and well-being facilities to benefit the staff of the port community. Qualitative research was performed in port areas in Italy. A thematic analysis of textual data obtained from interviews and secondary data was also administered. The original contribution of this study, which proposes a framework with different potential interventional areas, comes from the suggestion for an economic-financial analysis with the social return on investment. This method permits consideration of valuable aspects for evaluating the potential social value of the multi-functional social health and well-being facility.