SUSTAINABLE URBAN REGENERATION OF OLD NEIGHBORHOODS: A REVIEW TOW ARDS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK TO ACHIEVE SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

The debates are ongoing regarding the old neighborhoods and heritage environments in general, achieving comprehensive outcomes of sustainable pillars development. Social sustainability has received much attention in recent literature on urban planning and urban regeneration in old neighborhoods. The idea of "neighborhood" and "social life" has been the key focus of the investigation in this built environment. Urban regeneration, in conjunction with social sustainability, has emerged as a mainstream policy for the creation of"sustainable communities." However, in the Gulf region, specifically in UAE, the rapid growth of urban development has overlooked achieving social sustainability in old neighborhood regeneration. This study aims to: first, discuss the relationship between social sustainability, urban regeneration, and old neighborhoods. Second, explore social sustainability principles and related indicators through literature review. Third, propose a framework to evaluate the social sustainability factors of urban regeneration in the old neighborhood. The interrelationships of the social sustainability principles in old neighborhoods were discussed based on logical argument and critical review of relevant literature. The research accumulated these principles from the scholarship work of four authors due to their regional relativity. Based on the conducted review, this study proposes a theoretical framework that combines subjective and objective strategies to serve as an assessment tool of four social sustainability dimensions; social equity, social coherence, need satisfaction, and sense of identity. Due to its appropriate local condition, the proposed framework helps evaluate old neighborhoods in the Gulf region in general and the UAE in specific. It can also be examined by urban designers, planners, and policymakers for broader use of sustainable urban regeneration in future actions involving social sustainability in old neighborhoods.