ABSTRACT
The idea of sustainability and sustainable development emerged during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a reaction to the growing environmental, economic, and social challenges worldwide. Social equity and social justice has been one of the central concerns of planning since mid-twentieth century as a basic human right. Social equity and justice advocates the notion of distributive justice and fairness in the apportionment of resources in society, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, and social status. Scholars have criticized the concept of social sustainability from different perspectives. The concept of social sustainability faces critical challenges in areas of theory and operation. Overall one can argue that the social sustainability discourse is under-theorized, ambiguous in definition, limited in disciplinary coverage, geographically concentrated on a limited number of developed countries, and normative in character. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
