How social value goals can help urban development projects provide long-term benefits

Crises often prove to be the crucible in which hope is created. Following the financial crisis that hit Western markets during 2008-9, Cambridge City Council in the UK took control of a failed housing project. The council began by seeking the community’s input on a new vision for the site. Co-housing emerged as a top priority to not only address affordability but also increase community cohesion.

With this guidance in mind, the city selected a co-housing development team. The partnership that emerged was innovative from the start. By prioritizing both social value creation and financial viability, the chosen development team was able to deliver social value goals while also protecting the economic interests of the City of Cambridge, the landowner.

Future residents were engaged throughout the design and development stages. The resulting mix of housing types fosters intergenerational living. The project also includes a community shop to enable people to bulk-purchase everyday goods, a shared laundry space with affordable, low-energy appliances, a shared garden and a community-managed gym. The “Common House” provides a place for social gatherings, and there are communal outdoor gathering spaces. The new development came to be known as Marmalade Lane.

When all the units were sold, the developer team exited the project, and the co-housing group, comprised of residents, assumed responsibility for the long-term maintenance and upkeep of shared spaces. Five years after it was built, the waiting list for Marmalade Lane’s 42 homes is long enough to fill the development seven times over. It won numerous awards, including England’s highest prize for town planning.

Marmalade Lane is one of 14 case studies featured in a new Social Value Playbook recently published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Avison Young. The playbook highlights six principles for social value creation through the lens of successful urban development stories from across North America, the UK and Europe.

At the heart of these principles lies a simple insight: the social value of any urban development is highly specific to a place and its people. The principles and recommendations introduced by the playbook are designed to help all stakeholders create solutions that are unique to individual projects.

In the US, for example, the State of Minnesota has teamed up with the renowned Mayo Clinic in the city of Rochester to create Destination Medical Center (DMC), a 20-year multi-billion dollar development initiative to revitalize the city and make it a global health destination.

For DMC, community engagement is not a tick-the-box exercise. This award-winning community co-design model ensures Rochester residents are highly engaged in decision-making and developing the criteria for the project’s success.

Crucially, “community co-designers” are chosen for their networks and experience and compensated for their time. They participate in design workshops and gather feedback from their communities through surveys, focus groups and town hall-style listening sessions. This dynamic evaluation method enables developers to adapt their targets and metrics to meet the changing priorities of the community and other stakeholders.

Such flexibility is a vital principle for urban development projects, which may take two decades or more from conception to completion. Another key priority is being able to measure social outcomes so they can be monitored and managed.

Brent Cross Town in the UK is an £8 billion urban regeneration project featuring 6,700 new homes, workspaces for 25,000 people, a new high street, 50 acres of parks and playing fields, and a goal to achieve net zero by 2030. It is a public-private collaboration between Barnet Council and property developer Related Argent.

The developer has worked with the council, engineering consultants Buro Happold and the University of Manchester to measure both community and individual well-being using the newly developed Flourishing Index. A series of comprehensive longitudinal studies began by establishing a baseline in 2021. They will take snapshots of the community’s well-being for at least 10 years, using online surveys, behavioural observations, activity-tracking sensors, environmental sensors and in-person interviews. The index considers factors such as social interaction, how people use public space, and how people move around the neighbourhood to understand the cause-effect relationships that impact well-being.

The real estate industry is not just about buildings, floorspace and occupancies. It is a business of people and places. In San Francisco, for example, developers of Pier 70, a former shipyard on the city’s waterfront, repurposed a large warehouse as a temporary events space, raising $3 million for the community while the larger site awaited redevelopment.

Initially referred to as a “meanwhile use”, the warehouse became a beacon for the site and continues to host events, a makers’ market hall and office space. Those programmes attract people, in turn creating value in a place – a virtuous circle of placemaking.

The Social Value Playbook, developed by the World Economic Forum and real estate firm Avison Young, and based on guidance from the Forum’s Social Value in Regeneration Taskforce, shows the power of collaboration. Launched in December 2023, the task force has 25 active members, including government leaders, public servants, developers, contractors, investors and thought leaders.

The playbook case studies embody innovative ideas and practices that challenge the status quo. Global risks such as the affordable housing crisis and widening socio-economic inequality demand systemic changes based on creativity and innovation. Ultimately, developing better social outcomes creates value that benefits everyone.