New Professionalism: the post-industrial context

Definitions and perceptions of professionalism are continually challenged and transformed by public need, government interaction and institutional organizations. When the goals of those three entities are focused on near-term results, this poses a significant threat to the integrity, value and relevance of professional services. When the individual and corporate professional's profit margin, corporate shareholder responsibility and news media sensationalism are factored in, this short-termism dynamic is greatly magnified. Built environment professions are seen as particularly vulnerable to this threat, given that investments in buildings and infrastructure have long-life and high-performance service expectations. This commentary responds to the Building Research & Information special issue entitled ‘New Professionalism’ (2013, volume 40, number 1) and situates the predicament of built environment professionals within an emerging historical transition: that of the post-industrial information society with its characteristic knowledge workers and cybernetic bases of production. Long-term virtues of the built environment mission such as sustainability, public good and evidence-based design are shown to be reflections of the transition from industrial era short-termism to post-industrial systemic foresight. This commentary supplements the special issue papers with a discussion on the broader academy's potential role in breaking the stranglehold of contemporary short-termism in the built environment professions.     

Construction sector development: frames and governance responses

The governance of construction sector development constitutes an important policy issue in many European countries due to the increasing impact that construction as well as the built environment have on gross domestic product and the environment. Previous studies have discussed how national construction industries have been framed as objects of development. However, less attention has been placed on exploring how an industry is recognized and framed as an object that can be subjected to organized development activities from the viewpoint of strategically motivated actors, and how such framing activities may be governed. Based on a case study of the sector development activities in the Danish construction industry, this paper argues that governance strategies should not necessarily be designed to ensure the development of a single industrial conceptualization. First, drawing on concepts from institutional theory it is suggested that strategic framing activities aiming to conceptualize an industry as a sectoral object of development are likely to generate multiple and incommensurable representations with different and conflicting strategic implications. Second, if faced with a development agenda composed of multiple incommensurable sector representations, then the most productive governance response may be to recognize and accept their conflicting strategic implications.

La gouvernance du développement dans le secteur du bâtiment constitue un enjeu politique important dans de nombreux pays européens en raison de l'impact croissant que le bâtiment aussi bien que le cadre bâti ont sur le produit intérieur brut et sur l'environnement. Des études antérieures ont examiné comment les industries nationales du bâtiment ont été présentées comme des objets de développement. Cependant, il a été porté une moindre attention à l'étude de la manière dont une industrie est reconnue et définie comme un objet qui peut être soumis à des activités de développement organisées, du point de vue d'acteurs aux motivations stratégiques, et à l'étude de la manière dont ces activités de cadrage peuvent être régies. Sur la base d'une étude de cas portant sur les activités de développement sectoriel dans l'industrie danoise du bâtiment, cet article soutient que les stratégies de gouvernance ne devraient pas nécessairement être conçues de façon à assurer le développement d'une conceptualisation industrielle unique. En premier lieu, en faisant appel aux concepts de la théorie institutionnelle, il est suggéré que les activités de cadrage stratégique visant à conceptualiser une industrie en tant qu'objet de développement sectoriel sont susceptibles de générer des représentations multiples et incommensurables offrant des implications stratégiques différentes et contradictoires. En second lieu, en cas de confrontation à un ordre du jour du développement composé de représentations sectorielles multiples et incommensurables, la réponse la plus productive en termes de gouvernance peut être alors de reconnaître et d'accepter leurs implications stratégiques contradictoires.

systèmes d'entreprise, industrie du bâtiment, gouvernance, théorie institutionnelle, développement sectoriel, Danemark     

Defining resilience for the US building industry

ABSTRACT

Initiatives to operationalize the concept of resilience in the building industry are rapidly emerging. The concept of resilience has introduced a way to explore solutions to some important problems in the building industry. However, much of the work that has taken place to date represents activities generally assigned to risk management, which is discussed as being inherently insufficient for sustaining the functions of the built environment under stresses. This commentary considers the opportunities and limitations for mainstreaming resilience into building industry processes and actors. Barriers include indeterminate analytical meaning, event and performance uncertainty, immature regulatory standards setting, and untested enterprise economics. Further, the multiple outcomes of recovery and the relationship between building recovery and adaptation are discussed and, along with economics of resilience investments, a research need highlighted. A simple heuristic is presented to illustrate the complement of resilience to risk management and advance the integration of resilience into existing industry workflows.     

Rethinking China's urbanization: an institutional innovation perspective

During the past two decades, China has witnessed a rapid rate of urbanization and is faced with unique problems due to the country's natural resources, history, society, economy and culture. The role of institutions is examined as a fundamental ingredient for sustainable urbanization in a Chinese perspective. The context within which China's urbanization is proceeding is analysed and the urbanization progress is briefly reviewed. The contradictions exposed in the urbanization progress are identified and the institutional defects behind these problems are analysed: the over-reliance on gross domestic product (GDP) as an indicator, inappropriate assessment systems for local government, the urban–rural dual structure, the legal system, and building regulations. It is concluded that China's urbanization progress is too fast to be sustainable and that accomplishing sustainable urbanization in developing countries, particularly during their transformational period, cannot be best understood in terms of technical and monetary factors. Instead, the urbanization process can be formulated within a context of institutional innovation. Essential institutional innovations at both the central and local government levels are required: improving the performance appraisal system to regulate officials' behaviour; reforming the dual socio-economic system to cure ‘town–country syndrome’; strengthening the legal system to bring it more in line with the requirements of a market-oriented economy; and revising building codes and standards to implement green plans and programmes. The ‘scientific perspective of development’ proposed by China's new national leadership indicates a break from an overwhelming emphasis on GDP growth, and is expected to provide a multifaceted approach giving impetus to a more sustainable approach to urbanization.

Au cours des deux dernières décennies, la Chine a connu une urbanisation rapide; elle est aujourd'hui confrontée à des difficultés uniques qui ont pour origine les ressources naturelles du pays, l'histoire, la société, l'économie et la culture. Cet article examine le rôle des institutions en tant qu'élément fondamental d'une urbanisation durable dans une perspective chinoise. L'auteur explore le contexte dans lequel la Chine s'urbanise et analyse le processus d'urbanisation. L'auteur souligne les contradictions qui marquent le progrès de l'urbanisation et analyse les défauts institutionnels sous-jacents à ces problèmes: dépendance trop importante du produit intérieur brut (PIB) en tant qu'indicateur, systèmes d'évaluation inappropriés pour les administrations locales, double structure urbaine–rurale, système juridique et réglementations concernant les bâtiments. Il en conclut que l'urbanisation de la Chine est beaucoup trop rapide pour être durable et que l'urbanisation durable dans les pays en développement, notamment pendant leur période de transformation, ne peut être comprise en termes de facteurs techniques et monétaires. Au lieu de cela, le processus d'urbanisation peut être formulé dans un contexte d'innovation institutionnelle. Il faut innover au niveau des institutions, que ce soit au niveau central ou local: il faut améliorer le système d'évaluation des performances afin de régir le comportement des fonctionnaires; il faut réformer le double système socio-économique afin de remédier au syndrome de la ‘ville-état’; il faut renforcer le système juridique pour qu'il soit mieux aligné sur les exigences d'une économie de marché et il faut réviser les codes de la construction et les normes afin de mettre en ?uvre des plans et des programmes écologiques. La ‘perspective scientifique du développement’ proposée par les nouvelles instances dirigeantes nationales chinoises fait apparaître une rupture due à une importance écrasante accordée à la croissance du PIB; cette perspective devrait aboutir à une méthode à facettes multiples qui donnerait de l' élan à une approche plus durable de l'urbanisation.

Mots clés: parc bâti, villes, gouvernance, innovation institutionnelle, planification, politique publique, développement urbain durable, urbanisation, Chine     

Construction business system in China: an institutional transformation perspective

During the transformational period from a planned economic system to a market-oriented one, China's construction business system is in an intermediate stage of development. The developing business system has played an increasingly important part in regulating the relations between various actors in the building sector, but the disordered situation in the construction market has fully revealed the shortcomings of the system. Using international experience and practice for reference, China is making efforts to promote the construction business system with Chinese characteristics. The institutional change involves reforms in legislation, property rights, price mechanism and the investment system. The crucial issue lies in deregulation, but this is difficult to realize for a government-led reform. Only if government's control and intervention are decreased enough can the construction market and related professional bodies play their proper roles so that the development platform of China's construction industry can be gradually perfected.     

Advancing a ‘new professionalism’: professionalization,practice and institutionalization

By way of review and response to the Building Research & Information special issue entitled ‘New Professionalism’ (2013, volume 40, number 1), compiled by Bordass and Leaman, this paper assesses the potential and prospects for changes to the ‘system of professions’ in construction associated with a shift towards sustainability. The paper builds on and develops the analysis of professionals and professionalization in the special issue, forming a bridge with other contemporary work in organization studies and the sociology of the professions. The creation of a ‘new professionalism’ that transcends existing divisions amongst building professions will present a number of challenges. Amongst these are, on the one hand, the interweaving of processes of professionalization and institutionalization and, on the other hand, the influence of practice. Suggestions are provided on how the themes and issues raised in the special issue can be taken forward in both research and practice.     

Evaluation of building code compliance in Mexico City: mid-rise dwellings

The Mexico City Building Code (MCBC-2004 MCBC. (2004). Reglamento de Construcciones del Distrito Federal, Gaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal, 29 de enero de 2004. In Spanish. [Google Scholar]) – Reglamento de Construcciones del Distrito Federal, Gaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal, 29 MCBC. (2004). Reglamento de Construcciones del Distrito Federal, Gaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal, 29 de enero de 2004. In Spanish. [Google Scholar] de enero de 2004 MCBC. (2004). Reglamento de Construcciones del Distrito Federal, Gaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal, 29 de enero de 2004. In Spanish. [Google Scholar] in Spanish – is a state-of-the-art code; the most comprehensive and advanced set of requirements in the country; and it serves as a model for codes in Mexico's regions. However, many recently built mid-rise dwellings seem too weak to withstand earthquakes, with evident structural deficiencies. Insufficient official mechanisms exist for supervising the design and construction of such new structures. This study evaluates current practice and compares it with the guidelines of the MCBC-2004 using a sample of structures of 150 buildings constructed after 2004. Structural analysis and design revisions were made for a subset of 20 buildings. This study confirms that a large number of new buildings in Mexico City do not have a reliable record of technical information. Therefore, it is difficult to reanalyse buildings to assess their earthquake performance. Many buildings have limited information making it impossible to verify their structural seismic behaviour. The analyses performed for those buildings with available information show that many would have inadequate performance during an intense earthquake, as they do not meet the minimum requirements in the MCBC-2004. To improve governance and actual outcomes, an institute is needed to improve construction practices and code enforcement particularly for residential buildings.     

绿色供应链管理在我国建筑业的应用研究

界定了建筑业绿色供应链管理的内容,分析了建筑业实行绿色供应链管理的必要性,以及目前在建筑业实行绿色供应链管理存在的问题和应采取的措施。     

State-led metropolitan governance in China: Making integrated city regions

Scholars have widely discussed the issue of how to govern rapidly growing metropolitan regions under the economic, social and political pressures of globalization. Many have argued for a metropolitan governance approach that involves less government regulation and more flexible arrangements between public and civic sectors. However, in countries like China, where a traditionally centralized state controls most resources and seeks to impose its vision for metropolitan development, a strong state-led approach is widely adopted. This article analyzes such a state-led model in China and identifies the economic and political factors that contribute to such development. It is suggested that metropolitan governance in China has formed a strong top-down, “dirigiste type” model to achieve state objectives. Findings are drawn from field observation, archival research and socio-economic data analysis in the Guangzhou–Foshan metropolitan region of the Pearl River Delta region in China.     

The transformation of regional governance in China: The rescaling of statehood

Urban entrepreneurialism and intensive inter-city competition prevail in post-reform China, which has been extensively documented in the literature. However, decentralization is not the only characterisation of China's changing central–local relationship since 1978. Since the 2000s, economic development and agglomeration in China have created more scope of and need for collaboration. Regional collaboration is valued and driven by both central and local government. The aim of this research is to present various types of ‘regionalisation’ initiatives and examine the development of regional governance in China. It is found that there are two main actors leading the current regional practices, that is, the central government (the top-down mechanism) and local government (the bottom-up mechanism). Nevertheless, in terms of institutional arrangement, there has been no formal regional institution or informal regional coalition for either of the mechanism thus far. Moreover, both bottom-up and top-down regional governance initiatives lack substantial participation and multilateral negotiation between cities. There are essentially two different readings of the rationale of regional governance. While the bottom-up collaborative development is envisioned by the local entrepreneurial government to use regional competitiveness to promote local development, the top-down national and regional agenda is used by the central government to tackle discretionary local development. Therefore, the emerging regional governance in China is hybrid and complicated. With reference to the Western theoretical perspectives of state spatiality, state rescaling and politics of scale, this study argues that the emerging regional practices in contemporary China represent another round of changing statehood after governance downscaling to the urban level. This is in response to the territorial problems such as administrative fragmentation and excessive competition caused by earlier decentralisation and localism. It is held that, however, the state rescaling process is not a straightforward process but ridden with conflicts and tensions. Different actors at different spatial levels are articulating their vested interests at the regional scale. The building of regional governance is hence contested by complex inter-governmental politics, especially the division of central–local power and responsibility.     

Construction business system in China: an institutional transformation perspective

During the transformational period from a planned economic system to a market-oriented one, China's construction business system is in an intermediate stage of development. The developing business system has played an increasingly important part in regulating the relations between various actors in the building sector, but the disordered situation in the construction market has fully revealed the shortcomings of the system. Using international experience and practice for reference, China is making efforts to promote the construction business system with Chinese characteristics. The institutional change involves reforms in legislation, property rights, price mechanism and the investment system. The crucial issue lies in deregulation, but this is difficult to realize for a government-led reform. Only if government's control and intervention are decreased enough can the construction market and related professional bodies play their proper roles so that the development platform of China's construction industry can be gradually perfected.     

Airborne bacterial assemblage in a zero carbon building: A case study

Currently, there is little information pertaining to the airborne bacterial communities of green buildings. In this case study, the air bacterial community of a zero carbon building (ZCB) in Hong Kong was characterized by targeting the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Bacteria associated with the outdoor environment dominated the indoor airborne bacterial assemblage, with a modest contribution from bacteria associated with human skin. Differences in overall community diversity, membership, and composition associated with short (day‐to‐day) and long‐term temporal properties were detected, which may have been driven by specific environmental genera and taxa. Furthermore, time‐decay relationships in community membership (based on unweighted UniFrac distances) and composition (based on weighted UniFrac distances) differed depending on the season and sampling location. A Bayesian source‐tracking approach further supported the importance of adjacent outdoor air bacterial assemblage in sourcing the ZCB indoor bioaerosol. Despite the unique building attributes, the ZCB microbial assemblage detected and its temporal characteristics were not dissimilar to that of conventional built environments investigated previously. Future controlled experiments and microbial assemblage investigations of other ZCBs will undoubtedly uncover additional knowledge related to how airborne bacteria in green buildings may be influenced by their distinctive architectural attributes.     

Changes to building research funding in Sweden

Changes to the Swedish research landscape since 2001 are described including the re-organization of research councils, research programmes, the management and allocation of public funding research in Sweden, and the effects on built environment research. The reasons for these changes include the desire for increased integration with European Union research programmes, an increasing emphasis on inter- and multidisciplinary research, and the desire for research to contribute to economic well-being. Despite Sweden's high level of government investment in research, shifting priorities and an increasing number of applicants have resulted in reduced allocations for built environment research. This presents the challenging tasks to define and maintain core research capabilities within the built environment sector as well as to ensure adequate industry engagement with both the creation of the research agenda and the use of research outputs.     

Effects of project governance structures on the management of risks in major infrastructure projects: A comparative analysis

Large infrastructure construction projects are prone to risks. Using desktop review and interviews with stakeholder organizations in two major infrastructure projects (the Yi-wan Railway Construction Project in China and the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) Project in New Zealand), this study investigated how different project governance structures affect the management of risks. Comparative analysis shows that project governance provides a structured mechanism to identify and address risks as they occur. Despite varied context, two projects relied upon flexible contractual arrangements to leverage risks among project participants. While a centralized, single-agent governance was adopted in the form of Project Management Headquarters (PMH) in Yi-wan Railway project, an alliance governance structure was used in the NGTR project. The former enabled top-down risk allocation whereas the latter encouraged proactive solutions to risk sharing. The research outcomes will inform the decision making among project stakeholders on establishing appropriate project governance arrangements in order to achieve target risk management outcome. By comparing real-time projects of varied scope, complexity and significance, the findings contribute to an improved understanding of the relationship between project organizations and project risk management.     

Integrating algae building technology in the built environment: A cost and benefit perspective

Energy consumption rates have been rising globally at an escalating pace since the last three decades. The exploration of new renewable and clean sources of energy globally is thus gaining prime importance. In Australia, coal is still the primary source of energy, which, during the process of energy production, generates greenhouse gases, subsequently resulting in environmental degradation. Within this context, the paper compares the economic and environmental benefits of utilizing two renewable energy production sources: algae building technology (ABT) and solar PV panels. A case study site for retrofitting a specified area on the front façade of a multi-storied building at the University of Technology Sydney, City Campus, Australia was thus chosen for the study. A cost and benefit analysis model using the following performance indicators; return on investment, payback period as well as net present value of the two systems, was thus initiated. Annual revenue generation of both systems which included tangible and intangible benefits of both systems were simultaneously calculated. The investment and operation and maintenance costs of both systems were calculated based on market research as well as quantitative data adapted from our literature review. Our conclusions show that closed tubular photobioreactor systems have more benefit than solar panel system from an environmental impact perspective considering Australia's current struggle with water scarcity, drought, air pollution and carbon emission reduction goals.     

The challenge of change for innovation in construction: A North Cyprus perspective

A vision of change for innovation within the perspective of revaluing the construction industry is essential to develop a culture of self-sustaining improvement, mutual recognition, respect and support in the long term in North Cyprus. The research attempts to put forward a case for a restructuring of the construction sector in order to deliver a step in change in quality of output and to realise maximum value to all clients, stakeholders and end users. The main objective of this study is to (1) determine current innovation practices and identify key issues that contribute to successful implementation (2) assess the existence and severity of barriers to change for innovation (3) propose solutions for overcoming barriers to change for innovation in construction industry and develop a framework to revaluate the construction industry. The research includes an extensive literature study, interviews with managers on the challenge of change for innovation in construction, analysis of this information to develop findings, and extending these to present the key strategic issues that could be targeted for revaluing the construction industry. The paper commences on understanding the firms’ own processes and detecting their weaknesses and strengths, determining the strategies and actions that should be made in the short term to adopt innovation practices and helping the North Cyprus construction industry to learn as a whole. The paper concludes how the drivers of change for innovation can offer benefits to construction firms in North Cyprus if appropriate strategies are adopted.     

Stresses in anisotropic rock masses: an engineering perspective building on geological knowledge

Rock stress measurement is cast in the more general context of the determination of boundary conditions for rock engineering. A study on the effect of elastic anisotropy on underground excavations reveals that this effect is actually controlled by the imposed boundary conditions. Applications to tunneling and to the Underground Research Laboratory (URL), Canada, exemplify a procedure for boundary condition estimation formerly developed by the authors. In this procedure, previous information is accounted for, so that boundary conditions can be updated at the various stages of a project, as soon as new information becomes available; strain, stress, or displacement measurement can be used as input data. The procedure displayed fast convergence despite the complex geometry, and the high degree of non-linearity of the models. The application to the two-dimensional (2-D) plane strain synthetic model of a tunnel in a yielding rock mass shows the need to use absolute displacements (rather than relative displacements) in order for the boundary condition identification problem to be well-posed. As for the URL application, the 3-D model was able to completely reproduce the complex measured stress pattern, and the 90° rotation of the principal in situ stresses with depth. In order to reliably estimate the boundary conditions reproducing the current in situ state of stress, response measurements of the rock mass to current disturbances are necessary as input data.     

大类招生与学分压缩背景下人才培养探索——以合肥工业大学建筑环境与能源应用工程专业为例

合肥工业大学2019版人才培养方案压缩了专业课学时,将建筑环境与能源应用工程专业纳入土木大类招生培养试点。以此为背景,文章探讨了土木大类中建筑环境与能源应用工程专业建设和人才培养。通过深入分析该专业特点,准确定位该专业在土木大类中的角色,明确绿色能源为专业特色,能源工程师为专业人才培养目标。教学过程中将理论教学和实践教学紧密结合起来,使学生既熟悉土建行业全产业链组织过程,又精通行业技术和管理。     

One country,two systems: How regional institutions shape governance modes in the greater Pearl River Delta,China

This paper, which is positioned in the interface of economic geography and institutional economics, studies the spatial aspect of institutions and its relevance for regional economic development in the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD). The GPRD consists of Hong Kong (HK) on the one hand, providing an advanced institutional system, and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in China on the other hand, with its evolving institutional setting. Despite or even because of the ‘one country, two systems’ situation, firms in the GPRD have become established suppliers in the electronics value chain. The paper takes up the challenge of operationalizing and empirically studying the relations of HK firms and PRD producers adapted to regionally specific institutional pattern and demand for flexibility in production using a quantitative approach based in a survey of HK electronic firms and a logit model explaining the relations between HK firms and PRD producers. The analysis reveals that in the course of time, HK firms have used different entry modes as a response to the maturity the institutional setting.