Capitalism is under siege. As the famous economist and business strategist Michael Porter note. Business practice is overflown with an increasing number of societal and environmental concerns, trumping economic activity and trapping businesses in a vicious cycle in which taking responsibility is repaid with taking even more responsibility. On the other hand, these societal concerns cannot be ignored and need to be addressed. As shelter, water, food, and welfare must be provided to a growing population in a durable and future proof manner.
Urban development practice is burdened with this same complex problem. Businesses are confronted by an increasing number of public sustainability regulations and with neo-liberal influences shifting more responsibilities towards the market. Scholars raised their concerns if the public social value can be safeguarded by the market. However, business practice proofed to be capable of taking their social responsibility and even found a way to contribute to both society and their business performance, linking their social behavior towards their corporate reputation. This phenomenon is called CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) benchmarking, in which social reporting and labeling are used to enhance their client base. The danger, however, is that these activities are often better displayed in these reports than performed. Besides, these reports primarily enhance the environmental concerns and leave the ‘softer’ aspects of sustainability ill addressed. These limits of the CSR-benchmarking concept are mainly caused by the intrinsic perception of businesses towards these social activities. Social activities are seen as a costly practice and with the ‘enterprise culture’ still present many businesses today. These activities are not likely to be performed. This problem became the starting point of this research. Can this intrinsic perception of businesses towards social activities be changed?
The Shared Value Creation (SVC) concept fitted this question with its aim to turn corporate social activities from a costly practice into a value-creating activity. By exploring the concept of SVC this study aims to change this business perception towards social activities and eventually contribute to creating sustainable urban areas.