A Study of Social Sustainability of High-Rise Living in Kolkata, India
type: CreativeWork
description: Urbanisation is currently a global trend. Along with growing urbanisation, the urban population is also increasing rapidly. Although high-rise apartments are not the only way to accommodate this growing urban population, cities in developing countries are rapidly embracing high-rise living because of various socio-political and geographical factors examined in this study. The sustainability of high-rise apartment buildings has been the subject of several studies. These have covered various dimensions, including energy efficiency, economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The literature review reveals that the social aspect of sustainability of high-rise apartments has been less researched compared to economic and environmental sustainability, especially in the context of the developing world. Often, high-rise apartments have been viewed as inferior housing after they failed based on social issues in the UK and North America in the 1960s and 70s. As a result, most social sustainability studies on high-rise apartments were conducted in developed countries like- the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. This research seeks to find how socially sustainable high-rise apartments are in the context of the developing world, especially in Kolkata, India. Based on the literature review, this study postulates a definition of the Social Sustainability of high-rise apartments. It identifies the various factors or aspects of social sustainability which are vital for social sustainability in a built environment, such as social cohesion, social equity, trust, common meaning, social inclusiveness, and self-organisation. This study applies Qualitative and Quantitative analysis to examine the social issues related to high-rise living in Kolkata. It examines the residents’ experiences of 61 low-rise (G+4 floors) and 59 high-rise (G+5 and above floors) apartments in Kolkata. It compares the experiences of the residents based on the concepts and theories related t…
abstract: Urbanisation is currently a global trend. Along with growing urbanisation, the urban population is also increasing rapidly. Although high-rise apartments are not the only way to accommodate this growing urban population, cities in developing countries are rapidly embracing high-rise living because of various socio-political and geographical factors examined in this study. The sustainability of high-rise apartment buildings has been the subject of several studies. These have covered various dimensions, including energy efficiency, economic, environmental, and social sustainability. The literature review reveals that the social aspect of sustainability of high-rise apartments has been less researched compared to economic and environmental sustainability, especially in the context of the developing world. Often, high-rise apartments have been viewed as inferior housing after they failed based on social issues in the UK and North America in the 1960s and 70s. As a result, most social sustainability studies on high-rise apartments were conducted in developed countries like- the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Australia. This research seeks to find how socially sustainable high-rise apartments are in the context of the developing world, especially in Kolkata, India. Based on the literature review, this study postulates a definition of the Social Sustainability of high-rise apartments. It identifies the various factors or aspects of social sustainability which are vital for social sustainability in a built environment, such as social cohesion, social equity, trust, common meaning, social inclusiveness, and self-organisation. This study applies Qualitative and Quantitative analysis to examine the social issues related to high-rise living in Kolkata. It examines the residents’ experiences of 61 low-rise (G+4 floors) and 59 high-rise (G+5 and above floors) apartments in Kolkata. It compares the experiences of the residents based on the concepts and theories related t…
author: Mitra, Saurav
language: en
keywords: social sustainability, high-rise, low-rise, Kolkata
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:50:59Z
provider: University of Adelaide
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Adelaide

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/139505