Tools, Methods and Approaches to Support Social Impact Assessment

This Practitioner Briefing (PB) introduces the concept of Social Impact Assessment (SIA). SIA can be used as a means of considering and improving transport justice or equity (Martens, 2017), encouraging citizen engagement and the needs of vulnerable (non)transport users. Here, transport is considered in relation to quality of life and providing access for everyone to the resources and opportunities provided by cities. Within such a framework, it is not sufficient to measure transport simply in terms of its performance but as an enabler or barrier to quality of life for all members of society, regardless of their physical abilities, age, sex, gender, ethnic origin etc. As such, conducting SIAs throughout the urban mobility planning process is a way of ensuring that the needs of all citizens are met, and no one group is disadvantaged by new transport measures.
Having introduced SIA the PB then provides an overview of methods and tools which practitioners could use to plan and implement gender- and diversity-sensitive transport measures, as well as reference to worked examples. The intention is to introduce SIA as an approach to improving inclusivity in the design and operationalisation of sustainable transport measures, to ensure the all people’s voices are heard and given equal value in planning of mobility services. Traditionally impact assessment has focused on quantifiable parameters and has prioritised journeys undertaken by (male) car owners or for commuting purposes. This has led to inequalities in transport provision which reinforce other inequalities leading to multiple levels of deprivation, reduction in opportunities (e.g. to access resources such as health, education, employment and recreational facilities) and poorer quality of life