The Meaning and Content of the Concept of the Social in the Scientific Discourse on Urban Social Sustainability

Abstract

The introduction and progressive consolidation of the paradigm of sustainability, and specifically that of social sustainability, has led to changes in the content attributed to the idea of the social in scientific discourse on the city and urban contexts. In this article, discourse analysis methods are used to assess these changes quantitatively and qualitatively as well as to highlight the new scientific, political, and ideological content that the concept is acquiring. The conclusion is that two discourses currently compete in redefining the idea of the social in relation to the city: one that we may term traditional or “hard,” linked to ideological positions of the left, and another “soft” or emerging meaning that connects to a great extent with discursive neoliberal logic.