Abstracts – Browse Results
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Chan, H-W E (2003) A study of contractual provisions relevant to disputes arising in international construction projects involving both european and East asian cultural factors, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , King's College London (University of London).
Choy, N Y C (2016) The construction of urban design values in volume housing production, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , King's College London (University of London).
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: built environment; government; housebuilding; local government; policy; residential; rationality; urban design; case studies; interview; UK
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-construction-of-urban-design-values-in-volume-housing-production(9f1dcadb-2662-4a24-960d-89bfc2eb4f33).html
- Abstract:
My research explores the interrelationships between agencies involved in volume housebuilding, and their influence on the discourses and the actualities of housing quality in residential developments. The empirical focus is on urban design codes; as a planning tool with responsibilities and interests spread across a broad cluster of public and private agencies, they are intriguing artefacts of complex governmental processes. Though research on design codes has been done in the past, much of it addresses issues from planning and policy perspectives, focusing on best-practice and promotion. My research incorporates a suite of constructivist social theories to re-situate the process of design coding within the political relationships between institutions, individuals, central and local governments and private companies. Using the concepts of field and capital articulated by Bourdieu (1983, 1986) and governmental rationality after Foucault (1991, 1998), I investigate the way design values are co-constructed by these different parties, and the manner in which they attain force and effect within the contemporary UK political and cultural economy. I will also utilize approaches associated with actor-network-theory (Latour 2005) to evaluate the technical artefacts of design coding, to track their active contribution to the construction of design values, and how they interact with larger assemblages within the built environment. The empirical program includes in-depth interviews and two case studies of active design coding projects in order to develop a detailed and socially charged account of a process often portrayed and understood in “objective” disciplinary terms. Design codes are typically assumed to be a value-neutral tool, a technical instrument capable of delivering a broad range of styles and transparently communicating different design agendas. This thesis interrogates that assumption and examines how design codes, like other governmental technologies, are part of specific historical and political circumstances, and as such are the site of contestation and the embodiment of a multiplicity of values, whether by design or not.
Netto, A M (2001) Third party rights for latent defects in buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , King's College London (University of London).
Ryan, E C (2001) An economic analysis of standard construction contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Centre for Construction Law and Management, King's College London (University of London).
Singh, R (2018) Defining models for project management processes, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , King's College London (University of London).
Tangrungruengyoo, K (2018) The impact of environmental impact assessment on new housing development: a case study of Bangkok, Thailand, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Geography Department, King's College London (University of London).
Thomas, C S (1994) Aspects of building contracts: A comparative view of English and French law in the light of potential harmonisation, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , King's College London (University of London).