THE ATTRIBUTES OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION:

A THEORETICAL EXPLORATION

Nurul Elma Binti Kordi

N E Kordi, S Belayutham, C K I Che Ibrahim and A R Zulkifli

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

elma8207@uitm.edu.my
Main Idea / keywords

Social value

Construction project
life cycle
Social sustainability
Stakeholder involvement

The social element in

construction
Issues
Lack of understanding on Social Sustainability (SS)

Measurement of SS too subjective

Different perceptions and motivations on SS by different stakeholders,

at different phases of the construction project life cycle

Past SS studies mainly focused only on the construction stage

Lack of compelling systematic framework for assessing and relating human

E outcomes to the design features makes the social aspect too complex

F No pre-established social criteria standard that could be used as reference

4
Exemplary definitions of SS in construction
• “measure of ability
“function of set of key of people work • “a series of
parameters such as together for processes for
interest, impacts, common purposes improving the
understanding, and in groups and health, safety, and
satisfaction perceived by organizations” well-being of •
current and future “polic
the wider community on ies
various project issues” generations” instituti and
o
overall ns that have th
effect o e
integrat f
ing div
groups erse
a
practice nd cultural
equitab s in a just and
le fashi
o n”

Olakitan Atanda, 2019 Doloi, 2018 Almahmoud & Valdes-Vasquez & Toole &
Doloi, 2015 Klotz, 2013 Carpenter, 2013
Research question

• RQ1: What are the social sustainability attributes in construction

practices?
• RQ2: How does the attributes of social sustainability relate to
construction project life cycle?
Systematic review process
Results of searching papers
Step 1: Database and keyword
search. Keywords: “social 2010
sustainability” OR “social value”
AND “construction*” OR 1303
“project*” 174
Step 2: Considered peer-
reviewed journal articles 45

Step 3: Relevant title,

keywords, abstracts using
criteria

Step 4: Full paper analysis and

synthesis

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Distribution of articles per journal

No Name of journal Frequency

1 Sustainability Switzerland 7
2 Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 6
3 Journal of Cleaner Production 6
4 Journal of Management in Engineering 3
5 Journal of Architectural Engineering 2
6 Journal of Urban Planning and Development 2
7 Facilities 2
8 17 journals (with 1 relevant paper each) 17
  Total 45
Distribution of research methods in the
reviewed papers
Total no. of Percentage
Research interval 2012 – 2014 2015 – 2017 2018 - 2019
papers (%)
Case study 1 8 3 12 26.8

Literature review 4 1 3 8 17.8

Survey 1 2 3 6 13.3

Theory/concept 1 2 3 6 13.3

Interviews 2 1 3 6 13.3

Mixed methods 0 1 4 5 11.1

Mathematical modelling 0 0 1 1 2.2

Experiment 1 0 0 1 2.2
Social sustainability attributes
No Types of project Social sustainability attributes Example of references

Life cycle assessment, stakeholder-based assessment, society, worker,

occupants, local community, cultural value, satisfaction, safety and (Lang & Yang, 2019; Liu & Qian, 2019;
1. Building / housing health labour practices, human rights, indoor climate, accessibility to Stender & Walter, 2019; Surbeck & Hilger,
living opportunities, depreciation rate, working hours, community 2014; Wang, Zhang, & Lu, 2018)
education, building quality, socioeconomic growth

Cultural heritage, employment, health and safety, training, effects on

users, comfort, professional ethics, accessibility, usability, aesthetic
degradation, responding to the needs of specific groups, improved (Almahmoud & Doloi, 2015; Bamgbade et
2. Construction (general) quality of daily life, effective public participation, social flexibility, al., 2017; Montalbán-Domingo et al., 2019;
government support and market orientation, company age, staff Valdes-Vasquez & Klotz, 2013)
strength, human rights, regulation.

Stakeholder engagement, impact, communication, satisfaction

Infrastructure projects (Road, highway, network, liveability health & comfort, social justice, public opinion,
3. railway) fair and equitable, respecting human safety, security and health, (Doloi, 2012, 2018; Sierra et al., 2017)
cultural heritage.

Stakeholder engagement, sense of community, cultural heritage,

Other projects (Renewal Projects, Offshore health and safety, local preference / social value, professional ethics, (Montalbán-Domingo et al., 2019; Toole &
4. wind power farms, Sanitation public participation training, social capital, emotion experience, life Carpenter, 2013; Yildiz et al., 2019; Zou et
Organizations) satisfaction, cleanliness, convenience, financial contribution, al., 2018)
pollution, modernity knowledge, costs.
Social sustainability attributes across construction
project life cycle

INITIATION PLANNING EXECUTION CONTROL CLOSURE

1 2 3 4 5
Employment Employment Employment Stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement
Stakeholder Stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement Place context Satisfaction
engagement User consideration User consideration Macro social performance Socio economic growth
Team formation
Team formation (quality assessment
Impact assessment
Impact assessment
Management
Place context Place context
Summary

01 02 03 04 05
Numbers of
Categorizing the Contributed in Policies should be
redundant attributes Stakeholder
social attributes categorising the implemented to
or terms with similar Engagement is a promote the use
based on the type SS attributes with major SS attribute
meanings, which of social criteria
of project similar or closely .
might cause and metrics
related elements
confusion
 THANK YOU
Construction Business and Project Management
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA
elma8207@uitm.edu.my / +6012-5333959