ABSTRACT

This chapter describes both the process and outcomes of developing a conceptual and methodological framework to investigate sustainable communities within a multifarious research team: combining social and physical perspectives. The concept of a sustainable community is inherently a spatial construct, focusing on place-based communities. Multidisciplinary projects can give rise to exciting research opportunities, innovations in methodologies and wide-ranging analytical approaches. As multidisciplinary work thrives, innovative methods of data collection and measurement are slowly emerging within and between many disciplines. The chapter presents a project that explores sustainable communities through combining different disciplinary approaches. It argues that using a combined qualitative and quantitative methodology would give built environment designers a better understanding of a given environment or building. The chapter also argues that decision-makers take a holistic approach when exploring sustainability in the built environment, thinking about the wider relationships and connections between the physical environment and society.