Much of infrastructure planning aims to satisfy community needs for efficient, safe and healthy living, working and travelling environments.  Central to effective infrastructure planning and assessment is an understanding of the cogs of a community, the nodes of interaction and the main elements which are fundamental to the functioning of that community.  This understanding enables greater certainty and accuracy in social impact assessment.  Planners need to have a working knowledge of how a community operates before being able to effectively plan development.  Using this framework, SMEC has undertaken many social impact assessment projects.

Issues that typically require assessment include:   community severance; production of social capital; business and employment impacts; population migration; demand and access to facilities and services; indigenous culture; patterns and networks of community interactions; residential amenity and quality of life; and cumulative impacts.

There is no single blueprint or formula by which social assessment can be undertaken, however, there are principles that should guide assessment activities. Each project needs to be responsive to the individual characteristics, needs and aspirations of the relevant community and the nature of the project.

Effective social impact assessment should focus not only on impacts, but on the identification of alternative strategies and mitigation measures, through a process that is inclusive of affected communities.

SMEC's capabilities in this area are supported by a senior social planner and anthropologist, as well as seven land use planners in our Sydney office.