DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/KGG0-9Y28

Defense Date

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Urban & Regional Planning

Department

Urban and Regional Planning

First Advisor

Meghan Gough

Abstract

Recently, there is an increasing interest and awareness on sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainability is comprised of the three E’s: environment, economy and equity. Of these three, the equity or the social sustainability component is often overlooked. As cities become more global and demographically diverse due to immigration, diversity’s impact to the city should be addressed through policies and plans. The content analysis and evaluation of city plans, policies and urban design examines their response to accommodating and including inter-cultural diversity using identified indicators of social sustainability and equity. This study finds that the length of time a city has been a foreign-born population hub does not statistically impact its integration of social sustainability measures in its comprehensive and sustainability plans. It concludes with best practices of sample cities and discussion on how city and other jurisdictions’ plans can incorporate, address and measure immigrant and inter-cultural responsiveness through social sustainability and equity concerns.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

May 2013

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