How bridges and pedestrian subways can be more than means for transportation A study on how to raise social aspects in planning processes

Abstract

The strive for building sustainable denser cities requires a knowledge for what sustainability is and how to apply it to our planning processes to achieve a sustainable built environment. Areas around and under bridges and in pedestrian subways can be utilised for creating social values and thus adding additional values rather than being structures for transportation means. This report seeks to find why social aspects should be raised in such environments, exemplify what social sustainability could be and finally how to raise social aspects in parity to ecological, economic and technical aspects. The discussion is based on previous research about social sustainability within urban planning and infrastructure and on interviews. Findings suggests that social sustainability is fundamental in built environment. Simply because there is a need to create attractive, usable, safe places where can interact with other, learn or perform activities. Further, adapting a new way of working, collaborating across disciplines and organisational boundaries is essential. In this report, social sustainability is regarded as a perspective that needs to characterise the other elements and there are different tools and methods for raising social aspects in planning processes.