Henri Lefebvre, Urban Research and Design Today

While the theory of production of space by Henri Lefebvre (1901-91), formulated between 1968 (The Right to the City) and 1974 (The Production of Space), continues to inspire a theoretical renewal in the social sciences, it is only recently that its signifi cance for urban empirical research and design has become recognized. This paper accounts for the potentials and dangers of applying Lefebvre's theory in research and practice by revisiting two conferences: Rethinking Theory, Space, and Production: Henri Lefebvre Today (Delft, November 11th-13th, 2008) and Urban Research and Architecture: Beyond Henri Lefebvre (Zurich, November 24th-26th, 2009). By contextualizing the contributions to the conferences in recent publications on Lefebvre's theory, this paper summarizes his approach to urban research as "Theory, not Method". Rather than prescribing a systematic formula of research, Lefebvre aimed at a confrontation of a variety of methods from within a shared theoretical framework, which allows outlining long-term research questions and facilitates interdisciplinary cooperation between architects, urban designers, and social scientists.