Conceptual Framework of Adaptive Social Planning for Sustainable Urban Transformation

Abstract

The notion of social planning has a long history as a method used by social planners to tackle societal problems. Programmes and policies implemented during this act of providing social amenities, developing policies and programmes, and other developmental activities are frequently rendered obsolete with time. Because social requirements and community elements are always changing, thereby creating the need for continual, collaborative, and inclusive efforts to deliver or adapt social development activities to meet people’s current needs. This chapter seeks to develop an adaptive social planning framework that will provide a guideline for the adaptation of social needs and ensure the continuous integration of social dynamism into urban transformation. The non-adaptability of social planning and the lack of integrative social planning were extracted from the literature, which forms the basis for the development of the conceptual framework. Findings revealed the social transformation needed to achieve sustainable urban development, which were integrated to establish a holistic view of social needs. With this, a direct connection between the adaptation of social planning activities and sustainable urban transformation was established. This study provides a guideline for social planners and policy-makers to continuously monitor and evaluate the credibility and impact of any program/policy through empirical findings.

1. Introduction

Social planning connotes the activities of social planners towards community development efforts, to combat issues arising from social, economic, and physical complications in the urban environment. The term is conceptualised in diverse fields because of its applicability to a variant of human activity, which reflects the expectations by groups in promoting community well-being. Social planning is the process by which policymakers, legislators, government agencies, planners, and funders try to solve community problems or improve conditions in the community by devising and implementing policies and programmes intended to have certain results [1]. This entails a wide range of spectrum of uncertainty and complexity relating to program or policy design for different community character [2]. It is an important developmental activity for community advancement that aims to address the existing problem or introduce new initiatives to meet the need of the people and the community at large.

However, it is important to note that planning itself is an iterative and adaptive process [3, 4]. Adaption in the context of social planning is the application of fit-for-use project scope for a range of policies and programmes. Fit-for-use is the designing of appropriate programmes or policies that will yield maximum public acceptance and impact. Adaptation is a devised not to be optimal, for the best estimated future, but robust across a range of plausible futures and responds to changes over time, as well as makes explicit provision for learning [5]. This means that adaptive social planning acknowledges the need for knowledge acquisition for risk reduction through data, consultation, and design processes to reduce uncertainty and assumptions by planners or policymakers. There is a high degree of interconnectedness and dynamic consequences in a world where unpredictability and the presence of unknown are the underlying traits [6]. Hence, the plan should be designed to evolve and allow for a continuous flow of information that is generated from the feeds of the conceptualisation, planning, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring process.

There are diverse areas in which development activities by the government, private sector, or individuals are directed such as health, infrastructure, services, programmes, policies, education, and security, among others. The adaptation of these activities to the specific host communities is intricate and has its inherent complexity, which sometimes seems cumbersome with public interests, which often leads to a disjointed project objective. The human-centric nature of social planning programmes creates a dynamic and unsatisfying quest for rapid transformation, from the people and government. However, the adaptive nature of social planning will enable planners to incorporate data and knowledge accumulated within a particular context and to fine-tune spatial management arrangements to fit the dynamic social-ecological systems [7]. The activity of a social planner is an unending process of priority identification, adaptation, and implementation of social planning programmes, by acquiring data, engaging stakeholders in a consultative process, and through the design phases [5]. Stakeholders in this sense, refer to those who the program or policy will influence or whose influence has a direct effect on the program.

The outcome of social planning is a sustainable urban transformation and spatial gratification of the community and beneficiaries [8, 9, 10]. As explained by McCormick et al. [8], sustainable urban transformation refers to structural transformation processes—multidimensional and radical change—that can effectively direct urban development towards ambitious sustainability goals. Sustainable urban transformation, according to Ernst et al. [9] encompasses both sustainable urban structures and environments and (radical) economic, social, cultural, organisational, governmental, and physical change processes. Ernst et al. [9] explained that sustainable urban transformation relates to a multitude of urban sustainability issues, ranging from poverty, over-population, unhealthy housing conditions, inadequate infrastructure, hygienic problems, poor water quality, and uncontrolled pollution in developing countries to segregation and growing social tensions, local traffic problems, solid waste generation, and the large consumption of energy and material in developed countries.

This implies that urban transformation is a structural transformation process, multidimensional, and radical change that can effectively direct urban development towards ambitious sustainability goals [6]. This also implies that ensuring a sustainable urban transformation requires a continuous process of ensuring urban developmental projects meet their target impact for a long period. In other words, in the process of ensuring the adaptability of social planning programmes through a continuous approach to ensuring impact attainment, there is a residual effect on community development. The residual effect is the sustainability of urban transformation [11, 12]. As noted by Galbiati et al. [13], a sustainable urban transformation will unlock various economic potentials for the host community. Likewise, Itasca [14] concluded that sustainable urban transformation will impact peoples’ living standards, physical development, and other socio-economic pull factors, such as those from investors and investments, economic growth, and population growth.

Social development initiatives often attract a lot of interest and attention at the early stage, but these interests fade even before the projects are completed. The concept and proposed impact create a buzz in the beneficiary community; however, these initiatives are later abandoned due to uninformed social planning procedures in a dynamic context. As a result, non-adaptive social planning undermines the sustainability of urban transformation, especially in developing countries. Also, the non-adaptability of social planning makes the urban transformation to be faced with many challenges that have complicated the social structures and impaired the delivery of social and economic growth. Besides, there is a dearth of adaptive social planning frameworks which would have aided the policymakers and social planners in integrating the flow of data and communicating strategies to stakeholders for better decision-making, outcome, and impact metrics in social development.

As a result of the non-adaptability of social planning and lack of adaptive social planning framework, policymakers and social planners are making assumptions of what people need or want; while the prevailing social planning approach is generic and complicated by disparities in the economic, social, and physical context. These shortcomings have caused many social development projects to fail; either not being completed or abandoned after completion. Hence, there is a need to establish the importance and elements of adaptive social planning towards the development of a participatory approach to the adaptation and development of sustainable urban transformational initiatives. The intended aim of this paper is to develop an adaptive social planning framework that will positively impacts sustainable urban transformation.

2. Literature review

The importance of the city to individual lives cannot be overemphasised because the majority of people live in cities and urban areas [15]. The city, as the metropolitan area plays a dominant role in alleviating poverty through economic opportunities, improving social status, and providing good living standards [14]. John [1] describes a city as a growth centre for existing and emerging global consumption, production, pollution, economic, and social activities. In the opinion of [16], a city is a source of growth for domestic and global economies. Smith [17] observed that city or urban transformation is essential to ensure that urban areas are resilient, safer, healthier, more equitable; and better able to absorb, recover from, ad successfully adapt to future adverse events. However, the growth or transformation of a city is highly dependent on social investment [8].

This indicates that the transformative process of any community is dependent on social investment or development by the municipal government or private bodies.

Social planning is one of the activities involved in social development [18]. It entails effective change management within a dynamic population and expectations. It scans across all social aspect of community needs that is assessed at the grassroots for a strong public social planning process. Community needs as contained in social planning varies from geographic location to another, economic and political atmosphere, and social literacy [18]. These needs may take the form of laws, regulations, incentives, media campaigns, programmes or services, information, and a wide range of possibilities [1]. Svend [19] notes that social planning encompasses a wide range of development activities, which cannot be defined specifically because of the ever-changing social needs such as health service, education, infrastructure, services, programmes, and policies.

There is a long history of social planning and the need for adaptive social planning in many parts of the world. In the United States, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal contains various public health programmes in the 1940s and 1950s. During this time, social planning was used as a tool for economic and political reasons, which created a biased approach to development initiatives [17]. Consequently, there were many failed programmes (such as the Boston west-end neighbourhood levelling program) as planners assume what was best for the people instead of engaging the people in the selection of appropriate projects [20]. In South Africa, social development was designed to meet specific pressing needs with little or no consideration for the sustainability of the development [21]. The transition of the government of South Africa to democratic rule created an economic system that promotes gross income disparities and a widening gap between the rich and poor [22].

In China, changes in the political economy and deficiency in development activities of the local communities, contradict the ideas of social planning and have led to the regulation of social and economic development [23]. In Nigeria, social welfare emanates during the colonial rule by missionaries; and the post-colonial era by philanthropists and the Social Development Division in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare [24]. Several development plans need assessment programmes, political visions and structural programmes were introduced by the different government to meet the need of the public in the area of housing, education, and social alleviation program have since being developed heuristically. Deedam et al. [25] noted the enormous failure of achieving the respective aim and objective of social development programmes, due to inadequacy of planning process and implementation. Other researchers, political analysts and social professionals, and foreign observers have identified sources of social planning failure from corruption, non-implementation of the plans to the fullest, political interference, or coup and counter-coup d’état [25]. This indicates that the public administrators in Nigeria have no defined concept of social planning or the need to adapt social planning for social development.

Non-adaptability of social planning has been linked with a disruption in the social structure of a community [1]. Studies such as [26] have also reported that the non-adaptability of social planning affects the established community’s sense of place which was what made the city colourful and full of life. Non-adaptability of social planning can occur when planners assumed that a luxury complex residence profiling for residents is best to improve their living standards when an affordable residence is the best option to improve the living standards of the community [18]. The negative impacts of the non-adaptability of social planning on the sustainable transformation of urban areas have led to the making of community participation a notable requirement in project planning and implementation [18].

This implies that adaptive social planning is necessary to ensure that plans remain relevant and impactful, project objectives are evaluated, and there is feedback on the effectiveness of implemented management actions [27]. Adaptive social planning accounts for communities with peculiar characteristics based on culture, environment, religion, climate, socio-economic and political attributes; by ensuring plans or policies are made with the right people, for the right people, and by the right people to achieve sustainable development [28]. Similarly, Lei and Jianfa [23] pointed out that the idea of ensuring plans stay impactful and relevant is what sustainable development is about [23].

However, implementing an adaptive social planning initiative for sustainable urban transformation is quite challenging, due to the enormous time and resources that will be required [7]. According to Grantham et al. [27], the development of an adaptive plan is a complex process as a result of the workload. Therefore, it becomes imperative to develop a framework that will provide guidelines for the implementation of the adaptive social planning process in the generation of social policies, programmes, projects, and other urban transformation activities in countries like Nigeria that are lacking in social planning and development [29, 30, 31].

Thus, the focus of this research is on the development of an adaptive social planning framework that will provide a guideline for the adaptation of social needs and ensure the continuous integration of social dynamism into urban transformation.

3. Research methods

A research methodology framework for this study is shown in Figure 1. A literature review on the application of social planning and the historical challenges with its application was first examined. A systematic overview of the concept of social planning as it applies in different countries [17, 23] shows that social planning was used for economic, social, political, and cultural reasons. However, a majority of these social planning initiatives fail because they do not meet the needs they were created for. From the literature review, two distinctive problems were identified: the non-adaptability of social planning and the lack of an integrative adaptive social planning framework for social and sustainable development.

Figure 1.

Research methodology framework.

Munasinghe [32] depicts in sustainable urban transformation framework that sustainable development can only be possible if there is interdependency and correlation between the demographic, economic, social and spatial transformation. Ojoko et al. [33] also present Munasinghe’s principle of sustainability as an important development tool to drive social, economic, and physical systems. These two viewpoints provide crucial elements to achieve urban transformation, which lead to the development of modified sustainable urban transformation components. Social transformation, economic transformation, environmental transformation, demographic transformation, and spatial transformation encompass all the driving forces to address development.

To create an integrative and simplified process for adaptive social planning to achieve sustainable urban transformation, this chapter developed a conceptual framework to assist social planners and policymakers to continuously adapt and rethink social initiatives and developments through an empirical and systematic approach.

4. Development of conceptual framework

Social issues that are associated with urbanisation in developing countries include housing demands, technology advancement, health, employment, and transportation [29]. In addition, social needs are ambiguous while the majority of the developmental initiatives are ineffective and unable to meet social needs [33]. This suggests that adaptive social planning is required to ensure the sustainability of urban transformation by continuously addressing social issues and effectively meeting social needs. However, social planning will only be adaptive and bring sustainable urban transformation when developmental programmes are selected based on social goals, policymaker perspective, and grassroots viewpoint. This research proposes a conceptual framework of adaptive social planning for sustainable urban transformation.

The conceptual framework of this research is shown in Figure 4. It depicts a modification of Wei’s sustainable urban framework (Figure 2) with Munasinghe’s principle of Sustainability (Figure 3), to investigate the impact of adaptive social planning on sustainable urban transformation. Figure 2 shows the sustainable urban framework proposed by Wei et al. [34]. The framework explained that demographic transformation, economic transformation, social transformation, and spatial transformation interact closely and interdependently with each other to bring about a sustainable urban framework. The three viewpoints of the Munasinghe sustainability triangle present social, economic, and physical systems as a distinctive driving force with objectives that address development, which has been widely adopted and in operational (see Figure 3).

Figure 2.

Sustainable urban transformation framework [34].

Figure 3.

The dimensions of sustainability by Munasinghe [32].

The conceptual framework for this research (as shown in Figure 4) proposes a positive relationship between adaptive social planning and sustainable urban transformation. The relationships between adaptive social planning and sustainable urban transformation suggest that adaptive social planning is a collaborative and inclusive social development initiative that will ensure the consideration of environmental, economic, and social characteristics before policies or programmes are developed and implemented.

Figure 4.

A conceptual framework of adaptive social planning for sustainable urban transformation.

The conceptual framework in Figure 4 underlines the need for continuous adaptation and rethinking of social development with new empirical findings to make development more sustainable. As illustrated in the conceptual framework, the elements of adaptive social planning processes for a sustainable urban transformation necessitate the need to create a centralised workplace and integrative process for planners to carry out effective and efficient social development. The adaptive social planning process as shown in Figure 4 was conceptualised as a procedural-based framework with distinctive and connective elements. This provides an overview and guidelines for planners to engage, develop, plan, evaluate, and implement adaptive programmes and policies that meet social needs.

Also, the conceptual framework in Figure 4 outlines the proposed criteria and components that a social development initiative must fulfil and capture before it can be said to have adopted adaptive social planning. The criteria suggest that development programmes or policies in the area of health, technology, institutional, relief, and financial will only ensure sustainable urban transformation if they fulfil all of the criteria for adaptive social planning. Also, the criteria suggest that social planners should first engage in open consultation with stakeholders in the community on possible programmes or projects that are of importance to them. This can be done using a set of toolkits that will allow a wide range of open suggestions and ideas from the selected beneficiaries themselves. Also, the planner must prioritise the selected programmes into a set of three alternatives, having reconciled them with the available resources, regional policy, and allocations to test the feasibility of the project to be implemented.

Lastly, these sets of alternatives must be presented back to the community in a brief and a final project or policy is selected. Community engagement as conceptualised in Figure 4 will create a sense of ownership, enable the understanding of the social needs from the peoples’ perspective, reduce uncertainty and assumptions about urban transformation, and create community responsiveness to urban transformation. The impact of the transformation through various developmental projects must be measured through community assessment of project impact on their personal and community livelihood. Whatever be the impact of the projects, both positive and negative outcomes of projects are very important to policymakers and funders to inform subsequent development activities.

In addition, the conceptual framework proposes that adaptive social planning will lead to social transformation, economic transformation, environmental transformation, demographic transformation, and spatial transformation. Social transformation, as an element of sustainable urban transformation, is geared towards enriching communities, relationships, and individual aspirations. Economic transformation is concerned with an increase in the consumption of goods and services, which in turn improves human welfare. Social transformation occurs in the framework as cognitive level improvement, information exchange, cultural communication, technological innovation, social relations evolution, institutional reform among others, which could further influence people’s behaviour and lifestyle. The environmental transformation is concerned with the protection of the integrity and resilience of ecological systems.

5. Conclusions

Prior studies have shown that social planning and social development are intentional community development actions to curb issues arising from social, economic, and physical complexities. These activities are often carried out by social planners, policymakers, and other organisations, help create a community sense of place, and attract economic development and urban expansion. However, the approach to carrying out these development efforts, also known as social planning, has raised concerns over the years. As cities expand, it creates an increase in demographics, puts a strain on the physical and environmental components, and introduces a complex policy framework for planners and policymakers. Consequently, adaptive social planning is needed for a sustainable urban transformation.

This chapter proposes a paradigm for social planning that is integrative, collaborative, and inclusive in order to achieve sustainable urban transformation. It illustrates the direct correlation between adaptive social planning and sustainable urban transformation. The framework would help guide the implementation of social development, as well as continuously monitor its effectiveness, get public perception, and evaluate its impact. The impact of its application would ensure projects and plans remain relevant through time and social change. Further research is needed on the application and viability of the conceptual framework using a practical social development initiative.