Professor Robin Kearns

MA (Auck.), PhD (McMaster)

Professor of Geography

School of Environment, University of Auckland

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Robin has expertise in a range of qualitative methods and has applied these over the past 20 years in studies of health services and health determinants. His interests centre on the role of place in shaping health experience. Current research projects include work on: investigating the effects of proposed residential developments on coastal experience; the links between neighbourhood design and physical activity (especially for children); housing issues for older people; and the place of activism in influencing urban change. He has served on the Public Health Research Committee of the Health Research Council and the Board of the Centre for Housing Research, the National Health Committee and the Public Health Advisory Committee.

Robin is a researcher for the Resilient Urban Futures programme, looking at residential choice and community formation.

More information and contact details

KEY PUBLICATIONS

H Badland, R Kearns et alDevelopment of a systems model to visualise the complexity of children's independent mobility Children's Geographies, 2016, 14:1
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P Carroll, K Witten, R Kearns, P DonovanKids in the city: Children's use and experiences of urban neighbourhoods in Auckland, New ZealandJournal of Urban Design, June 2015
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K Witten, R Kearns, P Carroll Urban inclusion as wellbeing: Exploring children's accounts of confronting diversity on inner city streets Social Science and Medicine, 2015, 133, 349-357
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M Oliver, S Mavoa,... R Kearns et al Associations between the neighbourhood built environment and out of school physical activity and active travel: An examination from the Kids in the City study Health & Place, 2015, 36, 57-64
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Macmillan A, Connor J, Witten K, Kearns R, Rees D, Woodward AThe societal costs and benefits of commuter bicycling: Simulating the effects of specific policies using system dynamics modelingEnviron Health Perspect. (2014)
M Oliver, H Badland, S Mavoa, K Witten, R Kearns, A Ellaway, E Hinckson, L Mackay, PJ SchluterEnvironmental and socio-demographic associates of children's active transport to school: A cross-sectional investigation from the URBAN StudyInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11:70, 2014
Oliver M, Mavoa S, Badland H, Carroll P, Asiasiga L, Tavae N, Kearns R, Witten, K.What constitutes a trip? Examining child journey attributes using GPS and self-reportChildren’s Geographies, 12:2, 249-256 (2014)
K Witten, R Kearns, P Carroll, L Asiasigaa, N Tava'eaNew Zealand parents' understandings of the intergenerational decline in children's independent outdoor play and active travelChildren's Geographies, 11:2, 2013
R Kearns, D CollinsFeeling for the coast: The place of emotion in resistance to residential developmentSocial & Cultural Geography, 13:8, 2012
Milligan C, Kearns RA, Kyle R.Unpacking stored and storied knowledge: elicited biographies of activism in mental healthHealth & Place 17, 7-16, 2011
Badland H, Keam R, Kearns RA, Witten K.Examining public open spaces by neighbourhood- level walkability and deprivationJournal of Physical Activity & Health 7, 818-824, 2010
Collins DCA, Kearns RA.Walking school buses in the Auckland region: A longitudinal assessmentTransport Policy 17, 1-8, 2010
Collins D, Kearns RA “It'sa gestalt experience”: Landscape values and development pressure in Hawke's Bay, New ZealandGeoforum 41, 435-446, 2010
Bean C, Kearns RA, Collins DCAExploring social mobilities: Narratives of walking and driving in Auckland, New ZealandUrban Studies 45(13): 2829-2848 (2008)
Bullen C, Kearns RA, Clinton J, Laing P, Mahony F, McDuff IBringing health home: Householder and provider perspectives on the Healthy Housing programme in AucklandNew Zealand Social Science & Medicine 66, 1185-1196 (2008)
Mitchell H, Kearns RA, Collins DCANuances of neighbourhood: Children’s perceptions of the space between home and school in Auckland, New ZealandGeoforum 38, 614-627 (2007)
Gesler WM, Kearns RACulture/Place/HealthRoutledge, London (2002)