A MISSED DIMENSION OF THE NEGLECTED PILLAR: THE CASE OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

摘要

Asia has experienced rapid development and urbanization in the last half of the 20th century. This rapid urbanization is distinctly linked to the challenge of sustainable development. 'Sustainable Development' being an extensively used term in the current century, its three pillars (environmental, economic & social) have featured in various debates, discussions & researches. However, the social dimension has commonly been identified as the weakest and relatively neglected 'pillar' of sustainable development, particularly when it comes to its analytical meaning. As social sustainability is the least developed of the oft-cited 'three pillars' of sustainability and there is a relative lack of understanding of the social pillar, it provides an opportunity for many researchers to contribute to defining and refining the term. Although various authors have attempted to define 'social sustainability', there has been little agreement as to what this constitutes and there has been no general agreement over its definition. The working paper explores the literature on the attempts to define social sustainability with particular reference to urban form, and further points out the missed dimension in the attempts. None of the current definitions explicitly incorporate the aspect of regional and cultural context.