The places we live in and around have a marked impact upon our wellbeing and quality of life and on the long-term health, happiness and prosperity of communities.

There is a growing recognition of the opportunities to deliver wider co-benefits alongside urban development and to return to the basic principles of sustainable development. Social value is essential to this, helping to balance the economic and environmental priorities of development with the need to deliver positive social outcomes for communities. Yet as London grows, changes and develops there is no agreed definition of social value and inconsistency in its delivery. The London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) recognises that as London recovers from the pandemic, there is a unique opportunity to improve the social impacts of policies, programmes and projects across the built environment sector to address challenges facing the city and improve the lived experiences of all Londoners.

The report is structured around six overarching recommendations to:

1. Amplify the role and voice of communities to shape social value outcomes of development and regeneration
2. Emphasise the role of place and spaces in delivering social value
3. Provide tools and resources to support evidence-based decision making
4. Improve local authority capacity to demand, monitor and assess social value delivery across development and regeneration
5. Deliver social value consistently through London-wide policy
6. Advocate for policy changes to deliver robust and consistent social value policies across all stages of development and regeneration

 

Our research is based on an extensive literature review, expert roundtables and consultation with organisations from across the built environment sector. It is accompanied by a playbook of case studies and practical examples of projects that have used innovative data capture methods, community review panels and social value leases to secure social value across various stages of development and regeneration projects.

The recommendations are addressed to all those that shape our built environment, from policy-makers and developers to investors and designers, to create a shared understanding of social value and the mechanisms through which it can be secured to create sustainable places.

Publica was commissioned by the London Sustainable Development Commission to recommend a set of priority actions to embed the delivery of social value outcomes in development and regeneration projects across London.

The work seeks to standardise and expand the definition of social value which remains inconsistent and narrowly focused on procurement processes. The report instead argues that a social value led approach to development should shape the entire lifecycle of development and regeneration projects.  

The places we live in and around have a marked impact upon our wellbeing and quality of life and on the long-term health, happiness and prosperity of communities.

There is a growing recognition of the opportunities to deliver wider co-benefits alongside urban development and to return to the basic principles of sustainable development. Social value is essential to this, helping to balance the economic and environmental priorities of development with the need to deliver positive social outcomes for communities. Yet as London grows, changes and develops there is no agreed definition of social value and inconsistency in its delivery. The London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) recognises that as London recovers from the pandemic, there is a unique opportunity to improve the social impacts of policies, programmes and projects across the built environment sector to address challenges facing the city and improve the lived experiences of all Londoners.

The report is structured around six overarching recommendations to:

1. Amplify the role and voice of communities to shape social value outcomes of development and regeneration
2. Emphasise the role of place and spaces in delivering social value
3. Provide tools and resources to support evidence-based decision making
4. Improve local authority capacity to demand, monitor and assess social value delivery across development and regeneration
5. Deliver social value consistently through London-wide policy
6. Advocate for policy changes to deliver robust and consistent social value policies across all stages of development and regeneration

Our research is based on an extensive literature review, expert roundtables and consultation with organisations from across the built environment sector. It is accompanied by a playbook of case studies and practical examples of projects that have used innovative data capture methods, community review panels and social value leases to secure social value across various stages of development and regeneration projects.

The recommendations are addressed to all those that shape our built environment, from policy-makers and developers to investors and designers, to create a shared understanding of social value and the mechanisms through which it can be secured to create sustainable places.