Roderick J Lawrence
Biographic Data
| ID | 3848690 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roderick J Lawrence |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roderick J |
| FAMILY NAME | Lawrence |
| SIGNATURE | LAWRENCE R J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Geneva |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1432-7245 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 183 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Confronting housing and health inequities
This critical commentary requests creative, critical, and inclusive dialogue about the persistence of inequitable housing and health inequalities. It complements numerous publications in housing and urban studies about environmental, ethnic, socio-economic, and residential inequalities in an era of growing neoliberal politics and policies that influence housing and health inequities. The main aim is to propose conceptual and methodological reform…
Transdisciplinarity and its discontents
The title of my interventions article denotes shared concerns about the complexities and challenges, and the difficulties and barriers associated with trans disciplinarity in theory and in practice. It also concerns common misunderstandings and misuses of trans disciplinarity as a buzzword, and too little attention to its conceptual, theoretical and methodological constituents. This article argues this is, and should be, a cause of discontent, in…
Paths to Trans disciplinarity
Transdisciplinarity is evolving with multiple pathways. I consider paths serve as metaphors for making choices, for pursuing a goal, for confronting obstacles or taking the easy way out. All literal and metaphorical paths are human made. Path metaphors help us better understand multiple definitions and interpretations of transdisciplinarity that coexist and do not necessarily converge. I posit that a trans-anthropo-logic can accommodate divergent…
Cultivating trans-disciplinarity
Trans disciplinarity is creative human agency including cognitive, intellectual and behavioural activities of individuals and groups. These activities define and are mutually defined by beliefs and ideas, knowledge and know-how, language and meanings, norms and rules, and opinions and values. The cultivation of transdisciplinary projects should embrace these cultural, social and psychological predispositions because they are core constituents of …
Community and Privacy in a Hyper-Connected World
Christopher Alexander and Serge Chermayeff co-authored Community and Privacy: Toward a New Architecture of Humanism in 1963. This seminal contribution has largely been forgotten. Today, a human-centred framework is rarely discussed by researchers and practitioners, neither from a theoretical nor a pragmatic perspective. Nonetheless, some fundamental principles defined in that book 60 years ago are pertinent today in our hyper-connected world, and…
Co-Benefits of Transdisciplinary Planning for Healthy Cities
Synergies between urban planning and public health were synthesized a decade ago by the Lancet Commission’s article “Shaping Cities for Health: Complexity and the Planning of Urban Environments in the 21st Century.” Since then, innovative research projects, urban planning projects, and accumulated experience from the World Health Organization Healthy Cities project confirm that transdisciplinary contributions enable the achievement of core princi…
Building a multisystemic understanding of societal resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic
The current global systemic crisis reveals how globalised societies are unprepared to face a pandemic. Beyond the dramatic loss of human life, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered widespread disturbances in health, social, economic, environmental and governance systems in many countries across the world. Resilience describes the capacities of natural and human systems to prevent, react to and recover from shocks. Societal resilience to the current…
Overcoming Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Development Goals
This article criticizes the framework provided by the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, commonly used to implement sustainable development goals (SDGs). We argue that instrumental rationalism has been used to define cause-effect relations between "means" (all kinds of resources) and "ends" (the goals and targets) involved in implementing sustainable development. This linear thinking, commonly used during the last century, is…
Responding to Covid-19
Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research
Constancy and Change
The low impact of scientific research on the relations between housing and health during the last 30 years can be attributed to a number of reasons. First, statistical analyses have meant to improve understanding of the relations between what are interpreted and measured as causal factors. However, any single statistical approach fails to account for the dynamic non-linear relations between multiple factors and therefore cannot analyze systemic c…
Dernières parutions
Understanding Human Ecology
This book comprises three main parts. In part 1, titled “The challenge”, two chapters written by Robert Dyball introduce human ecology as a systemic framework for understanding complex human/social
Urban Life and Health
Advances in transdisciplinarity
Urban Health Challenges in Europe
Healthy Cities in a global and regional context
Since the beginning of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network in 1987, the global and regional contexts for the promotion of health and well-being have changed in many ways. First, in 2000, the United Nations Millennium Goals explicitly and implicitly addressed health promotion and prevention at the global and regional levels. Second, the concern for sustainable development at the Rio Conference in 1992 was confirmed at the World Summit in Johan…
Promoting decent work in the construction sector
Decent work in Santo André
What is an Ecological Perspective in Housing Research
Ecology is a word “a la mode” even though it can be characterized by a lack of consensus about what it means. Consequently, applications of ecological perspectives such as that proposed by Henny Coolen in this issue vary considerably. The purpose of this paper is not only to provide comments on Coolen's paper, but to discuss his contribution within the broader context of ecological perspectives for housing research. This paper will also briefly c…
Housing and Health
Futures of Transdisciplinarity
Housing and health
Introduction
Our understanding of the relationship between housing and health will improve with closer attention to the characteristics of residents, their activities in relation to their housing, and social ecological factors that set the boundaries for those activities. To highlight these aspects of the subject area, we propose recharacterizing the housing and health field as one of inquiry into the residential context of health. In introducing this issue o…
Housing Quality
This paper proposes that housing quality ought to be considered in terms of economic, political and ecological dimensions in addition to traditional, architectural, technical and qualitative dimensions. The relative nature of these dimensions, and hence of housing quality, varies according to the societal context in which they occur. Consequently, this paper suggests that more integrated studies of housing availability, affordability and quality …
Futures of Transdisciplinarity
Advances in transdisciplinarity
Housing and health
Introduction
Our understanding of the relationship between housing and health will improve with closer attention to the characteristics of residents, their activities in relation to their housing, and social ecological factors that set the boundaries for those activities. To highlight these aspects of the subject area, we propose recharacterizing the housing and health field as one of inquiry into the residential context of health. In introducing this issue o…
Domestic Space and Society
This essay presents a study of the influence of certain cultural, social, and architectural factors upon the meaning and use of domestic space. It attempts to promote an understanding of the history of the kinds of ideas which are invested in the spatial form and use of houses. In addition, it establishes the principle that the meaning and use of domestic space are not intrinsic to a set of physical characteristics, nor the nomenclature applied t…
Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research
Housing Quality
This paper proposes that housing quality ought to be considered in terms of economic, political and ecological dimensions in addition to traditional, architectural, technical and qualitative dimensions. The relative nature of these dimensions, and hence of housing quality, varies according to the societal context in which they occur. Consequently, this paper suggests that more integrated studies of housing availability, affordability and quality …
Housing and Health
Understanding Human Ecology
This book comprises three main parts. In part 1, titled “The challenge”, two chapters written by Robert Dyball introduce human ecology as a systemic framework for understanding complex human/social
Urban Health Challenges in Europe
Promoting decent work in the construction sector
Integrating architectural, social and housing history
The growth of interest in urban and housing history during recent decades has produced a large volume of studies that has examined broad societal parameters, or themes, such as housing policies, economics and legislation. Concurrently, a growing volume of historical research about households and families has been published, but few studies examine the lifestyles and values of the residents. In sum, there rarely has been any systematic analysis of…
An Ecological Perspective on Housing, Health and Well-being
Human ecology is a term that has been used frequently since the beginning of this century to examine some of the relationships between people and their surroundings. This article presents a different interpretation to that commonly used by academics and professionals in the medical and social sciences. The ecological perspective developed and illustrated here stems from an appraisal of many contemporary contributions, and an examination of Hippoc…
The Interpretation of Vernacular Architecture
This article presents a critical review of diverse yet recurrent interpretations of vernacular architecture, which have been published in either English or French during the last one hundred years. These interpretations have been classified as the aesthetic/formalist interpretation, the typological approach, evolutionary theory, diffusionism of a social and geographical kind, physical explanations, social explanations and socia-cultural factors. …
The comparative analyses of homes
Cultivating trans-disciplinarity
Trans disciplinarity is creative human agency including cognitive, intellectual and behavioural activities of individuals and groups. These activities define and are mutually defined by beliefs and ideas, knowledge and know-how, language and meanings, norms and rules, and opinions and values. The cultivation of transdisciplinary projects should embrace these cultural, social and psychological predispositions because they are core constituents of …
Decent work in Santo André
Constancy and change in household demography, dwelling designs and home life
During this century, there have been significant changes in household demography, domesticity and dwelling designs. Moreover, the systems of values attributed to the home, the family and marriage have become more diverse. This article identifies the interrelations between a wide range of factors that contribute to transformations in house planning, household demography and home life. These factors are discussed and illustrated by referring to a c…
Design by legislation
User Evaluation of Medium Density Housing
This paper documents the findings of a case study of the design and layout, and the subsequent use of a medium density housing estate. The estate was developed by the South Australian Housing Trust after 1970 at West Lakes, a newly developing western suburb of metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. The research was undertaken from January until May 1976. After a short introduction, which explains the history of the estate, the methodology of the…
Domestic Space and Society
This essay presents a study of the influence of certain cultural, social, and architectural factors upon the meaning and use of domestic space. It attempts to promote an understanding of the history of the kinds of ideas which are invested in the spatial form and use of houses. In addition, it establishes the principle that the meaning and use of domestic space are not intrinsic to a set of physical characteristics, nor the nomenclature applied t…
Laypeople as Architectural Designers
In recent years there has been much debate about public involvement in architecture and planning. On the one hand, this debate has frequently led architects, administrators and social scientists to acquire more explicit information about user requirements; on the other hand, rather than treating people as ‘objects of research’, it is also possible to involve them directly in the architectural design process. Nonetheless, this option has not alway…
The comparative analyses of homes
The Interpretation of Vernacular Architecture
This article presents a critical review of diverse yet recurrent interpretations of vernacular architecture, which have been published in either English or French during the last one hundred years. These interpretations have been classified as the aesthetic/formalist interpretation, the typological approach, evolutionary theory, diffusionism of a social and geographical kind, physical explanations, social explanations and socia-cultural factors. …
Design by legislation
Survey 6
Constancy and change in household demography, dwelling designs and home life
During this century, there have been significant changes in household demography, domesticity and dwelling designs. Moreover, the systems of values attributed to the home, the family and marriage have become more diverse. This article identifies the interrelations between a wide range of factors that contribute to transformations in house planning, household demography and home life. These factors are discussed and illustrated by referring to a c…
An Ecological Perspective on Housing, Health and Well-being
Human ecology is a term that has been used frequently since the beginning of this century to examine some of the relationships between people and their surroundings. This article presents a different interpretation to that commonly used by academics and professionals in the medical and social sciences. The ecological perspective developed and illustrated here stems from an appraisal of many contemporary contributions, and an examination of Hippoc…
Integrating architectural, social and housing history
The growth of interest in urban and housing history during recent decades has produced a large volume of studies that has examined broad societal parameters, or themes, such as housing policies, economics and legislation. Concurrently, a growing volume of historical research about households and families has been published, but few studies examine the lifestyles and values of the residents. In sum, there rarely has been any systematic analysis of…
Housing Quality
This paper proposes that housing quality ought to be considered in terms of economic, political and ecological dimensions in addition to traditional, architectural, technical and qualitative dimensions. The relative nature of these dimensions, and hence of housing quality, varies according to the societal context in which they occur. Consequently, this paper suggests that more integrated studies of housing availability, affordability and quality …
Introduction
Our understanding of the relationship between housing and health will improve with closer attention to the characteristics of residents, their activities in relation to their housing, and social ecological factors that set the boundaries for those activities. To highlight these aspects of the subject area, we propose recharacterizing the housing and health field as one of inquiry into the residential context of health. In introducing this issue o…
Futures of Transdisciplinarity
Housing and health
What is an Ecological Perspective in Housing Research
Ecology is a word “a la mode” even though it can be characterized by a lack of consensus about what it means. Consequently, applications of ecological perspectives such as that proposed by Henny Coolen in this issue vary considerably. The purpose of this paper is not only to provide comments on Coolen's paper, but to discuss his contribution within the broader context of ecological perspectives for housing research. This paper will also briefly c…
Housing and Health
Promoting decent work in the construction sector
Decent work in Santo André
Healthy Cities in a global and regional context
Since the beginning of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network in 1987, the global and regional contexts for the promotion of health and well-being have changed in many ways. First, in 2000, the United Nations Millennium Goals explicitly and implicitly addressed health promotion and prevention at the global and regional levels. Second, the concern for sustainable development at the Rio Conference in 1992 was confirmed at the World Summit in Johan…
Urban Health Challenges in Europe
Urban Life and Health
Advances in transdisciplinarity
Dernières parutions
Understanding Human Ecology
This book comprises three main parts. In part 1, titled “The challenge”, two chapters written by Robert Dyball introduce human ecology as a systemic framework for understanding complex human/social
Constancy and Change
The low impact of scientific research on the relations between housing and health during the last 30 years can be attributed to a number of reasons. First, statistical analyses have meant to improve understanding of the relations between what are interpreted and measured as causal factors. However, any single statistical approach fails to account for the dynamic non-linear relations between multiple factors and therefore cannot analyze systemic c…
Sociology (25 works) · Political science (19 works) · Geography (17 works) · Computer Science (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Social science (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Business (9 works) · Engineering (9 works) · Medicine (7 works)