Motivations for social value creation in commercial buildings: evidence from New Zealand

Social value creation is a stated priority in commercial property and ESG agendas, yet little is known about why owners and occupiers pursue social initiatives or what sustains them. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and its sub-theory of organismic integration, this study examines the motivations underpinning social value in Auckland's prime office market, New Zealand. Eleven semi-structured interviews with eighteen owners, occupiers and agents across ten organisations were analysed thematically alongside corporate sustainability reporting. Motivations cluster around four drivers: market obligations, environmental imperatives, employee priorities and socio-cultural responsibilities. These range from external and introjected regulation through identified and integrated forms to, rarely, intrinsic motivation. Owners span the full range, whereas occupiers stabilise at identified regulation centred on employee well-being and organisational culture. This difference is positional rather than dispositional, since participants holding both roles express different motivations depending on the role from which they speak. Motivation also varies spatially: provision closest to the leasing transaction is the most externally regulated and provision furthest from it the most integrated. The study extends motivational theory to the commercial built environment, proposes a dual-stakeholder framework, and shows why assessments based on whether provision exists cannot distinguish durable from compliance-driven social value.