Creating Built Environments

Roderick J. Lawrence, B. Arch (Hons), MLitt, DSc, has been Honorary Professor at the Geneva School of Social Sciences (G3S) at the University of Geneva since 2015. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences' 'Network for transdisciplinary research' since 2009. He was the founding Director of the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Sustainable Development at the University of Geneva from 2003 to 2015.

• IntroductionPART 1 : STRATEGIC DOMAINSChapter 1: Constructing with Nature in MindChapter 2: Planning for Health and Well-Being Chapter 3: Food for ThoughtChapter 4: Housing Matters for AllChapter 5: Creating Incremental and Radical ChangePART 2: CONCEPTUAL & METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONSChapter 6: Conceptual FoundationsChapter 7: Methodological Approaches

"In Creating Built Environments, Lawrence presents a lucid, authoritative and comprehensive narrative on the co-creation of urban environments within which humans might flourish. Balancing systems-based transdisciplinary frameworks with applied empirical examples, the work is a compelling evidence-based argument for the imperative of transforming approaches to urban design for just and sustainable futures". ⁠Dr Robert Dyball, Australian National University, Past President of the Society for Human Ecology (SHE), Australia"Roderick Lawrence takes us on a journey from philosophical foundations to contemporary inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches of the planning of the future of the urban built environement, the place where the majority of humans live. He offers food for thought for urban planning involving all actors in a participatory way".Jakob Zinsstag, President TD-net, Swiss Academies of Sciences, Switzerland"Our health is inextricably entwined with our environment, and yet we continue to devolve responsibility to the confines of biomedical care. This work on urban development is a stark demonstration of the inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches across both the Global South and North necessary for a holistic, just, and sustainable approach toward health and wellbeing".Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) "Sometimes a book is perfectly timed, and this is one of them. The sun is setting on a scientific era defined by disciplinary silos. We need to fix the way built environments are planned. This book explains how researchers and practitioners can work together to be joint agents of change".Dr Tony Craig, The James Hutton Institute, President of the International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS)"The challenges of health and well-being in urban environments, for people and the planet, emerge from social, technological and ecological systems which are complex. Solving them requires overcoming the barriers of thinking and working together. In his book, Roderick Lawrence makes important contributions to bridging barriers and tackling those challenges".Dr Franz W. Gatzweiler, Professor, Executive Director of Urban Health and Well-Being: A Systems Approach, a global interdisciplinary programme of the International Science Council"This book is timely, aimed at a very broad readership, comprehensive in its coverage and provides optimism and realism in confronting the global and local challenges and the geopolitics we now face. I positively endorse its approach and message".Colin Fudge, Professor of Urban Futures and Design, Chalmers University, Sweden"Lawrence’s book is also a feat of organization and clarity. Ideas are systematically explained and illustrated with real-world examples that are compelling and convincing, making this ideal course material every student, teacher and practitioner in the built environment ought to read."Roberto Rocco, review in Housing, Theory and Society"Creating Built Environments: Bridging Knowledge and Practical Divides (2020) is a highly practical and theoretically innovative work by renowned author, Roderick J. Lawrence. [The book] articulates, explores, and demonstrates an approach that aims at problem-centric, data-driven, synthesis in thinking, which promotes action and practicality of outcome as the most desirable results."Dr Ian Fookes, Lecturer, University of Auckland, New Zealand, review in Ekistics and the New Habitat