Designing for the Future: The Relationship Between the Interior Design Profession and Sustainable Development Goals

Interior architecture has the potential to create social benefits by designing spaces that affect people's quality of life. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a framework to comprehend the profession's social and environmental responsibilities, and develop strategic approaches. This study aims to assess how the social impact of interior design aligns with the SDGs, offering an opportunity to explore the relation between discipline and sustainability in a comprehensive manner, considering both environmental and social dimensions. The profession's relations and contribution to the goals was evaluated through a review of current literature. To this end, the year 2015, when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, was chosen as the starting point and a bibliometric analysis of studies in the Web of Science database between 2015 and 2023 was carried out. In addition to the analysis function of the WOS database, the bibliometric analysis program Vosviewer was used for data analysis. The results of the analysis show that interior design has a strong relationship with goals such as Climate Action (SDG 13), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), and Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7). However, the relationships between Quality Education (SDG 4), Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) are not yet at a sufficient level. The findings indicate that interior architecture has the potential to fulfill its social responsibility by supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, in order to foster a more inclusive relationship with the SDGs, Interior Architecture needs to evolve. It is expected that this will enable to create new perspectives and methodologies, both in professional practice and in the academic literature.