Expanding the field : combining construction management and urban studies to address grand societal challenges
(2024) In Construction Management and Economics 42(2). p.109-115- Abstract
- Globally we are facing a complex web of grand challenges that are impacting the lived environment, our development pathways, and wider quality of life. Urban environments serve as a key context around which these grand challenges are not only experienced while also providing multiple opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and resource consumption; improve health outcomes; eradicate poverty; and promote social justice and well-being. Cities are a manifestation of complex systems (and a range of influencing systems) and are shaped by the tensions between the planned form and the underlying dynamics of market demand and its mode of production. This results in a constant negotiation between those seeking to plan and design our cities... (More)
- Globally we are facing a complex web of grand challenges that are impacting the lived environment, our development pathways, and wider quality of life. Urban environments serve as a key context around which these grand challenges are not only experienced while also providing multiple opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and resource consumption; improve health outcomes; eradicate poverty; and promote social justice and well-being. Cities are a manifestation of complex systems (and a range of influencing systems) and are shaped by the tensions between the planned form and the underlying dynamics of market demand and its mode of production. This results in a constant negotiation between those seeking to plan and design our cities and towns, and those involved in shaping and responding to market demand and managing delivery. This creates barriers for related professions to collaborate and reinforces the boundaries in educational programmes and professional bodies, and entrenching modes of silo thinking.
There have long been calls to establish an integrated development approach involving academics, policy makers, urban planners, and designers. Such a transdisciplinary perspective can be used to facilitate a greater level of collaboration with property developers and construction professionals to respond to the grand challenges by enabling transformational urban change. Transdisciplinary approaches are key to transforming urban environments and require a multi-scalar systems perspective that connects the individual components of buildings with broader urban and regional dynamics. COVID-19 has provided a stimulus to further develop the interconnections between the building and urban scales as forced changes during lockdown periods saw society question our relationship between the home and workplace. This will have lasting implications for the development of our city centres. The emergence of sustainable, circular, regenerative, smart, resilient, and 15-min city models can only be achieved through a multi-scalar systems perspective that employs holistic collaborative thinking to devise context-specific solutions to a multitude of challenges. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/328db901-3f40-451c-969d-dfb0c09df4cb
- author
- Thomson, Craig S. ; Karrbom-Gustafsson, Tina and Karvonen, Andrew LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-01-30
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- grand challenges, urban studies, construction management, collaboration
- in
- Construction Management and Economics
- volume
- 42
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 7 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85183922160
- ISSN
- 1466-433X
- DOI
- 10.1080/01446193.2024.2306213
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 328db901-3f40-451c-969d-dfb0c09df4cb
- date added to LUP
- 2024-02-19 15:56:20
- date last changed
- 2024-02-20 09:07:13
@misc{328db901-3f40-451c-969d-dfb0c09df4cb,
abstract = {{Globally we are facing a complex web of grand challenges that are impacting the lived environment, our development pathways, and wider quality of life. Urban environments serve as a key context around which these grand challenges are not only experienced while also providing multiple opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and resource consumption; improve health outcomes; eradicate poverty; and promote social justice and well-being. Cities are a manifestation of complex systems (and a range of influencing systems) and are shaped by the tensions between the planned form and the underlying dynamics of market demand and its mode of production. This results in a constant negotiation between those seeking to plan and design our cities and towns, and those involved in shaping and responding to market demand and managing delivery. This creates barriers for related professions to collaborate and reinforces the boundaries in educational programmes and professional bodies, and entrenching modes of silo thinking.<br/><br/>There have long been calls to establish an integrated development approach involving academics, policy makers, urban planners, and designers. Such a transdisciplinary perspective can be used to facilitate a greater level of collaboration with property developers and construction professionals to respond to the grand challenges by enabling transformational urban change. Transdisciplinary approaches are key to transforming urban environments and require a multi-scalar systems perspective that connects the individual components of buildings with broader urban and regional dynamics. COVID-19 has provided a stimulus to further develop the interconnections between the building and urban scales as forced changes during lockdown periods saw society question our relationship between the home and workplace. This will have lasting implications for the development of our city centres. The emergence of sustainable, circular, regenerative, smart, resilient, and 15-min city models can only be achieved through a multi-scalar systems perspective that employs holistic collaborative thinking to devise context-specific solutions to a multitude of challenges.}},
author = {{Thomson, Craig S. and Karrbom-Gustafsson, Tina and Karvonen, Andrew}},
issn = {{1466-433X}},
keywords = {{grand challenges; urban studies; construction management; collaboration}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{109--115}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Construction Management and Economics}},
title = {{Expanding the field : combining construction management and urban studies to address grand societal challenges}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2024.2306213}},
doi = {{10.1080/01446193.2024.2306213}},
volume = {{42}},
year = {{2024}},
}