Environmental design for social inclusion: the role of environmental certification protocols

Abstract

Architectural and urban design is at the center of a recent scientific and disciplinary debate investigating several limits and contradictions: on one hand, concerns due to modified social practices; on the other hand, regulatory densification, scarcely capable to intercept inconsistencies and varieties of social innovation. Although it is widely accepted that environmental certification protocols at the buildings scale pay little attention to social dimension of sustainability, their recent evolution at the neighborhood scale is leading to a greater integration of human factors issues and participatory practices, able to pursuit aims of social justice, enhancing the design ethical dimension.