Abstract

In construction, greater emphasis is often placed on the economic and environmental aspects of sustainability, rather than social. Nonetheless, neglecting one of the sustainable pillars in construction, especially social sustainability, can lead to issues such as poor security and health. Previous studies on social sustainability in construction were mostly conducted in isolated contexts, where inadequate attention was placed on stakeholders’ responsibility throughout project life cycle. Therefore, this study aims to establish the social sustainability attributes in construction, subsequently relating this concept to two key aspects of construction: project life cycle and stakeholder involvement. This systematic literature review-based study has established nine main attributes with 20 sub-attributes, where Health and Safety was found to be the most dominant attribute, whilst Human Rights is the least acclaimed attribute for social sustainability. Further, the mapping of social attributes against the varying degrees of stakeholder involvement at different phases of project life cycle provides a definable understanding of social sustainability in construction, through the three elements of attributes, stakeholders, and project life cycle. The mapping would enable project clients to prioritise the selection of social sustainability attributes (what/how), relevant to their projects by engaging with relevant stakeholders (who) throughout construction project life cycle (when).

摘要

在建筑中，更多的重点往往放在可持续性的经济和环境方面，而不是社会方面。尽管如此，忽视建设中的可持续支柱之一，尤其是社会可持续性，可能会导致安全和健康状况不佳等问题。以往关于建筑社会可持续性的研究大多是在孤立的背景下进行的，在整个项目生命周期中对利益相关者的责任关注不足。因此，本研究旨在建立建筑中的社会可持续性属性，随后将这一概念与建筑的两个关键方面联系起来：项目生命周期和利益相关者的参与。这项基于文献综述的系统研究建立了 9 个主要属性和 20 个子属性，其中健康和安全被认为是最主要的属性，而人权是社会可持续性最不受欢迎的属性。此外，通过属性、利益相关者和项目生命周期这三个要素，将社会属性与项目生命周期不同阶段的不同利益相关者参与程度进行映射，提供了对建设中社会可持续性的明确理解。该映射将使项目客户能够通过在整个建筑项目生命周期（何时）与相关利益相关者（谁）接触，优先选择与其项目相关的社会可持续性属性（什么/如何）。通过属性、利益相关者和项目生命周期这三个要素，将社会属性与项目生命周期不同阶段不同程度的利益相关者参与映射起来，提供了对建筑中社会可持续性的明确理解。该映射将使项目客户能够通过在整个建筑项目生命周期（何时）与相关利益相关者（谁）接触，优先选择与其项目相关的社会可持续性属性（什么/如何）。通过属性、利益相关者和项目生命周期这三个要素，将社会属性与项目生命周期不同阶段不同程度的利益相关者参与映射起来，提供了对建筑中社会可持续性的明确理解。该映射将使项目客户能够通过在整个建筑项目生命周期（何时）与相关利益相关者（谁）接触，优先选择与其项目相关的社会可持续性属性（什么/如何）。