How socially sustainable architecture is designed

Sustainability is often associated with environmental and climate issues, but it is at least as much about people’s well-being – now and in the future. Social sustainability is based on fundamental human rights like health, quality of life, equity, security and inclusion; and it is a necessity for sustainable development. 
“A society where people are happy, fairly treated and feel well is better equipped to handle pressures and adapt to change,” says Viktoria Walldin, who works with social sustainability in architecture and city planning.

Strengthen the positive aspects and try to eliminate the negatives.

Victoria Walldin, social anthropologist at White Architects

She says that people’s physical living environment is key to their well-being.

“So it’s important to create environments that promote wellness,” she says.
“This applies to residential areas as well as working environments and public meeting places.”

A sustainable city or city district offers equitable aspects for everyone – children, senior citizens, people with disabilities and with all backgrounds and financial conditions.
“Everyone should feel safe and welcome in the public space,” Viktoria says.

To create such environments, city planners and architects need to learn the situation in the area and what needs exist. At White Arkitekter, Viktoria Walldin and her colleagues work to develop the necessary data. They conduct interviews, participate in meetings with citizens, analyze needs and find out information about different areas in city planning issues.

“When we start up a new project, we start by drawing up a holistic plan that considers every aspect – from the natural world, traffic and noise, to social injustices and integration issues,” Viktoria explains.
“We look at what environments make people thrive, feel safe and included. This allows us to develop transitional meeting places. “Involving the people who will use the area is also a way to strengthen community and make people feel a part of things.”

Among the most important factors for people to be happy and thrive in the public space is parks and greenspaces, according to Viktoria. Greenery and nature also help to enhance biodiversity in the urban area, and make it easier for the soil to absorb water to prevent flooding.

Because most people spend a large amount of their time at work, the location and design of the workplace are important from a social sustainability perspective. Just like in a city or city district, there must be equitable aspects for everyone there. 
“The working environment impacts the employees’ job performance and well-being,” Viktoria says. “Twenty or thirty years ago, it was popular to build open office landscapes because it was cheaper, but it was soon discovered that many were unhappy and performed poorly in them. People have a great need of a quiet place to work in.”

At the same time, we need open spaces to congregate in, because the workplace plays an important role as a meeting place, particularly since the pandemic, when people started working more from home. 

“The attractiveness of the workplace is crucial for the employees to want to come to work,” she says. But the trend of more and more people working from home isn’t going away. That means that many offices today aren’t used to full capacity.
“How to best use these spaces is a hot topic right now,” Viktoria says. “How do companies downsize? Can we share the spaces, or use them for something else? We don’t have the answers yet, because the phenomenon is still relatively new.”

Since many cities have a housing shortage, she thinks it’s possible that many office premises will be converted into residential space in the future. That might mean that housing and workplaces will be more common in the same areas. Social structures often arise at workplaces that can affect our happiness and well-being. who don’t find a group of friends or a work-related group to belong to can feel less seen, or even feel lonely.
“It’s important to try to erase hierarchies. We all need each other, and people generally feel better when they aren’t divided into an ‘us and them.’ In addition, it promotes both a good working climate and job performance when employees can get together and chat with colleagues from different parts of the business,” Viktoria points out.

In terms of the physical working environment, it’s important to strengthen the positive aspects and eliminate the negatives. For example, create environments that promote meetings and conversations, and create more quiet spaces where those who want to work in peace can do so.
“Listen to the employees and find out their needs,” she advises.

When Karolinska Institutet in Solna was being developed, Viktoria and her colleagues conducted a survey that showed that students could be divided into three categories based on their needs and wishes.
“One group of students wanted peace and quiet when they worked, so they often worked from home. The second group wanted peace and quiet, but preferred a bit of activity in the background. They liked to sit and work in the library.” The third category thrived in active environments, and wanted to sit and work at cafés or other public environments.

In Viktoria’s experience, many workplaces can be divided into these three categories as well, and she advises employers to meet these needs. “The survey turned out to be applicable to the development of offices as well,” summarizes Viktoria.