The organizational boundaries of housebuilding firms in Korea

This paper investigates the boundary of activities undertaken by Korean housebuilding firms. First, it examines the contractual relationships between housebuilding firms and contractors, focusing on the existence of quasi‐firm type organization in the Korean housebuilding industry. Second, it looks at how far Korean housebuilding firms diversify into other activities outside the industry. Secondary data analysis and an interview survey, carried out over the period between 1980 and 1995, were used. The results show that Korean housebuilding firms depend on a traditional contractual relationship with contractors but that quasi‐firm type organization is not established. On the other hand, housebuilding firms diversify into both related and unrelated business. This diversification could be a short‐term ‘survival strategy’ under a regulated environment rather than a long‐term ‘growth strategy’.     

Achieving 'Customer Focus' in Private Housebuilding: Current Practice and Lessons from Other Industries

Driven by government ambitions to improve the quality and cost of new housing, British private sector housebuilders are searching for ways to become more 'customer focused'. However, concepts developed in other manufacturing and service sectors are being transferred into the housebuilding industry without fully understanding their implications. The paper explores the concept of 'customer focus', the ways it is being adopted in UK housebuilding and identifies structural barriers which have impeded its introduction. Conclusions are presented on the business strategies that need to be in place if the aspirations for a more customer-focused housebuilding industry are to be met.     

Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany

The nature of the labour process in the British construction industry is different from that in Germany. The rationale of the British system is based on controlling costs through overseeing contract relations, themselves circumscribing a range of narrow, clearly defined and priced tasks. The production process has become secondary and production expertise restricted. In contrast, in Germany cost aspects are incorporated into, rather than separated from, the production system, built on the interaction of capital and labour and on a high level of production expertise. Employment relations rather than contract relations predominate and circumscribe a set of skills drawn from the potential of the labour force and dependent on broad‐based vocational education. A detailed investigation of social housebuilding projects and the firms involved in Britain and Germany reveals the need for more skills, and a qualitatively different constellation of skills, professional and operative, in Britain.     

From Craft Production to Mass Customisation. Innovation Requirements for the UK Housebuilding Industry

Improving the efficiency of housebuilding is essential if the challenge of meeting future UK housing needs is to be met. The degree to which speculative housebuilders are prepared to adopt construction product and process innovations is central to this task. Historically, housebuilders have been notoriously slow to innovate. However, current housing market and regulatory trends suggest firms will have to reassess their strategies to ensure future success. The paper explores the extent to which new methods for improving the housing 'product' and reducing construction costs may be taken up by housebuilders. We then consider what can be done to overcome the barriers which have so far inhibited a more innovative housebuilding industry.     

Chasing a Snail: Innovation and Housebuilding Firms' Strategies

British housebuilding has an exceptionally poor record at introducing innovations in design and production methods. Recent government concern about the poor innovation and productivity performance of the construction industry has focused almost entirely on changing the strategies of firms. In the context of housebuilding, this focus seems insufficient. Instead, it is argued here that housebuilders face particular market constraints on innovation in both their output and input markets. These constraints are investigated and proposals to limit them are suggested, which, if introduced, should make new firm strategies toward innovation more likely to be successful.     

浅议住宅中小户型的设计

分析了在国家宏观调控房地产行业的前提下,中小户型将是未来几年的主流户型,提出了精细化是新的中小户型设计的核心原则,介绍了中小户型的相关设计标准,从而促使住宅由数量时代向品质时代转型。     

Marketing communications practices in housebuilding firms

Robert Morgan, lecturer in marketing, and Jackie Burnicle, of Cardiff Business School, provide a snapshot of how the external communication of housebuilding firms are addressed, and in addition, supply some sound foundation to much of the conjecture surrounding the issue of competitive forces in the industry.     

如何把住宅与房地产业培育为大同的支柱产业

对住宅与房地产业在全面建设小康社会中的地位和作用进行了介绍，分析了大同市发展住宅与房地产业的制约因素，提出了把住宅与房地产业作为支柱产业培育的对策和建议。     

住宅卫生间、厨房排水方式的探讨

住宅卫生间、厨房排水管道的传统敷设方式已不适应住宅产业的发展。为满足现代住宅对卫生间、厨房排水管道敷设方式的要求,国内先后出现了垫高式、后排式、下沉楼板式敷设排水管道的方式。笔者以工程实例介绍了下沉楼板排水方式的简易做法和改进措施,值得推广、应用。     

Residential Building in Australia, 1993–2003

The building of new houses is a significant urban activity. The built form, shape and liveability of Australian cities are directly influenced by the actions and characteristics of firms who build new dwellings (apartments and houses). Despite this importance, little is known about the types of firms that build new houses and apartments in Australia. This article provides a detailed analysis of the residential building sector in Australia between 1993 and 2003. Focusing on elements of the sector that have been identified as important for both theoretical and policy reasons, the article presents a fine-grained analysis of industry structure, levels of concentration and the characteristics of the sector's large firms. It finds that differentiations between residential builders across space and by type of dwelling constructed are increasingly important and that large residential builders increasingly share characteristics with firms involved in other property sectors. It suggests that diversified property conglomerates pose new challenges to urban governance and to international theories of residential building.     

Residential Building in Australia, 1993-2003

The building of new houses is a significant urban activity. The built form, shape and liveability of Australian cities are directly influenced by the actions and characteristics of firms who build new dwellings (apartments and houses). Despite this importance, little is known about the types of firms that build new houses and apartments in Australia. This article provides a detailed analysis of the residential building sector in Australia between 1993 and 2003. Focusing on elements of the sector that have been identified as important for both theoretical and policy reasons, the article presents a fine-grained analysis of industry structure, levels of concentration and the characteristics of the sector's large firms. It finds that differentiations between residential builders across space and by type of dwelling constructed are increasingly important and that large residential builders increasingly share characteristics with firms involved in other property sectors. It suggests that diversified property conglomerates pose new challenges to urban governance and to international theories of residential building.     

论文明型住宅的设计思路

文明型住宅是体现小康生活水平的重要标志 .要从住宅数量、质量和环境 3个方面来分解这一标准 ,还要从设计思想、室内空间设计、环境设计和运用新技术等方面进行更新 ,以设计出文明型住宅     

Editorial special issue: house, home and dwelling

The aim of this special issue is to further our understanding of ‘house’, ‘home’ and ‘dwelling’ by presenting five empirical studies that investigate different aspects of these concepts. All three are complex, multi-faceted and multi-layered concepts, whose diverse connotations are often used interchangeably. For example, the word home is used for the physical structure of the house, for the meanings attached to the house, as well as for the process of homemaking. From an analytical point of view this is undesirable, since we require our concepts to be as unambiguous as possible. Therefore, in this introductory paper, the guest editors present a conceptual framework for studying house, home and dwelling that is based on the fundamental distinction between an environmental object and the affordances attached to it. The studies presented in this special issue investigate different aspects of house, home and dwelling, but they all use this conceptual framework and share the same theoretical perspective on people—dwelling relations. And, although each of the papers has its own merits, together they demonstrate that the conceptual framework is an effective tool for dismantling the concepts of house, home and dwelling.     

Modular Approaches in Dutch House Building: An Exploratory Survey

In many European countries, changing housing policies are now offering clients more influence over the final building. This means that construction firms need to adopt concepts that have a greater customer focus. The electronics, software and automobile industries, and others, have dealt successfully with the trade-off problem that exists between, on the one hand, offering customer variety and, on the other, minimising manufacturing costs by developing product platforms. This paper presents the results of a field study in which opportunities, limitations and external restraints on the implementation of platform-based approaches in the Dutch house building industry are explored. Based on a cross-sectional analysis, the perceptions of architects, construction firms, suppliers and municipalities are compared. Specific attention is paid to the roles to be fulfilled by these various actors. The study shows that while all the actor-groups agree that a platform-based approach could deliver substantial improvements in the house building process, substantial changes are still necessary to realise this. The implications for each actor-group are then described.     

Regional Differentiation and the Scottish Private Housebuilding Sector

The British housebuilding industry is considered problematic by the literature. It is perceived to be relatively inefficient and slow to change. How true is the national picture at a regional scale of analysis? Is there a process of industry homogenisation occurring as a result of the growing market penetration of local markets by volume housebuilders? This paper uses new evidence on market shares and evaluation of comparative industry performance at the UK and Scottish level to inform an overall assessment of the nature and extent of regional differentiation of housebuilding. The paper concludes that the development market is standardising around the practices and market extent of the volume housebuilders but that this is occurring alongside the continued strength of local contracting.     

住宅生态设计因素探讨

围绕住宅设计的生态化,通过对生态设计诸因素的探讨,较全面地概括了生态住宅的特性,有助于住宅设计中对生态化问题的解决,从而创造出良好的居住环境,提高居住质量。     

房型浅析及展望

通过对目前上海市房型市场分析，论述了住宅设计、房型发展的趋势：户型面积趋向实用化，功能分区更为明显，功能配套更趋完善，户型设计更为贴近人性化。并结合实例点评了各种房型。     

Changing the way UK cities are built: The shifting urban policy and the adaptation of London’s housebuilders<Superscript>1</Superscript>

This paper summarises recent trends in UK housebuilding and tries to place them within the wider context of the changes in housing provision in the UK. Based on relevant management literature it argues that recent changes in British urban policy, related to the types of land released and types of development promoted, have significant effects on housing production in the UK. Some indications of those changes are already visible in the type of industry outputs and in the practices of emerging industry leaders.     

The challenge for the UK housing industry in the 1980s and the planning system

The paper provides a review of the factors which have shaped the housing industry in the UK over the past 30 years. It describes the market for new houses, the housebuilders response, the injuence of the costs of housebuilding on thefinancial structure offirms and the development of design standards. The implications of these factors are related to the major problem of redeveloping inner cities. This in turn identifies the need for a radically new approach to planning. A new planning system is proposed in which the role ofcentral government and the districts is modified and the counties are replaced by regional planning commissions with wider responsibilities.     

论地域住宅中的情结空间——以汉口里分为例

通过地域住宅中蕴含的"土地"与"家"的涵义,展开论述了地域住宅中的情结空间如何生成、如何维持。以及作为地域住宅的居民如何凭借个人情感与亲身足迹来感知情结空间。情结空间在地域住宅中细分为四种类型。即入口空间、街道空间、建筑空间、绿色空间,并结合汉口里分的具体案例进行诠释。