Contribution of Social Services to Inclusive Urbanism

Abstract

Background: The United Nations 2030 Agenda involves a multifactorial system through 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The 11th is directly linked with urban sustainability, but all the goals should be considered. The diagnosis of urban environments is a complex challenge given the large number of involved factors, especially in vulnerable areas where urban and social problems often co-exist. Methods: The proposed methodology is carried out in two stages. Firstly, an up-down approach is conducted to obtain data on urban vulnerability, from secondary sources. The information is disaggregated territorially, which does not necessarily fit the reality of the social fabric. Secondly, a bottom-up approach is performed, where the ad-hoc information provided by the Social Services experts, leads to three dimensions to evaluate social vulnerability. Results: As a result, a Vulnerability Index of Social Services (IVSS) is obtained from the linear combination of the normalized indicators, calculated from the selected variables, and weighted according to social services experts. The model is transferred to maps using Geographic Information Systems to identify the areas of priority intervention in the municipality. By way of example, the model was developed in the municipality of Vinaroz (E Spain). The model could be extrapolated to other contexts, by adapting the model to the site. Conclusions: Sharing information among Local Administrations departments, such as Urbanism and Social Services, has proved very useful to reach more equitable urban planning. This enforces the crosscutting perspective included by the 2030 Agenda motto “leave no-one behind” (LNOB) and contributes to social equity.