Environmental performance assessment in China and Hong Kong

Environmental Management System (EMS) has recently been advocated for almost all economic sectors. However, the implementation of EMS is problematic for the construction industry. The greatest obstacle is the lack of objective performance evaluation criteria. To overcome this, Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) has been introduced, to provide assessments in terms of management and operational systems. This paper compares the status of EPA implementation in China and Hong Kong. By means of a questionnaire survey, the difficulties in implementing EPA are highlighted, the major ones being ‘Lack of technological support, such as training, staff and expertise’ and ‘Lack of commitment from senior staff’ in Hong Kong and Mainland China, respectively. Furthermore, ‘Lack of legal enforcement’ is found more profound in Mainland China than in Hong Kong, indicated by a low correlation coefficient between the rankings of these factors in Hong Kong and China. Meanwhile, ‘Promoting EPA as a legal requirements’ and ‘Inclusion of EPA in the tendering requirements’ are found to be the best tools for encouraging implementation of EPA. Although the difficulties in implementing EPA are different in the two regions, the motivations for EPA are similar, with a high correlation coefficient.     

Market structure of the construction industry in Hong Kong

This study examines the market structure of four different sectors within the construction industry in Hong Kong. Market concentrations, expressed in terms of Herfindahl-Hershamann indices (HHIs) and number equivalents (HNEs), are calibrated for the top five contractors and compared with those of the local property industry. The study reveals the following ascending order of market concentrations: private building, public building, property development, and civil engineering. Our explanation is that technological and capital requirements have imposed a strong barrier to entry into the civil engineering sector, resulting in a concentrated market. Conversely, the lack of technological demand and supply in the private building sector has led to easy market entry and exit. Building contractors thus compete intensely on cost reduction rather than technology improvement, leading to poor construction safety and product quality. The paper concludes that the Government, being a major client of construction works and regulator of the industry, can assume a more active role in promoting the overall competitiveness of indigenous local contractors in Hong Kong.     

Environmental performance assessment in China and Hong Kong

Environmental Management System (EMS) has recently been advocated for almost all economic sectors. However, the implementation of EMS is problematic for the construction industry. The greatest obstacle is the lack of objective performance evaluation criteria. To overcome this, Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) has been introduced, to provide assessments in terms of management and operational systems. This paper compares the status of EPA implementation in China and Hong Kong. By means of a questionnaire survey, the difficulties in implementing EPA are highlighted, the major ones being 'Lack of technological support, such as training, staff and expertise' and 'Lack of commitment from senior staff' in Hong Kong and Mainland China, respectively. Furthermore, 'Lack of legal enforcement' is found more profound in Mainland China than in Hong Kong, indicated by a low correlation coefficient between the rankings of these factors in Hong Kong and China. Meanwhile, 'Promoting EPA as a legal requirements' and 'Inclusion of EPA in the tendering requirements' are found to be the best tools for encouraging implementation of EPA. Although the difficulties in implementing EPA are different in the two regions, the motivations for EPA are similar, with a high correlation coefficient.     

Environmental performance assessment: perceptions of project managers on the relationship between operational and environmental performance indicators

There is a growing concern about environmental impacts resulting from construction activities. To help minimize the environmental impacts from construction, Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) have been advocated and in some cases, implemented. Within the construction industry, Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) forms one of the most important tools in monitoring and evaluating environmental performance. However, the relations between Environmental Operational Indicators (EOIs) (inputs) used in EPA and Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs) (outputs) have not been tested and correlated, casting doubt on the reliability of these inputs. This paper attempts to develop a series of input (EOI) and output (EPI) indicators for EPA and measure their relations based on the perceptions of project managers. The results show that EOIs defined correlate strongly with EPIs. Therefore, EPA can help to identify areas for continuous improvement, and also provide an early indication of the environmental performance for an organization.     

Critical stressors influencing construction estimators in Hong Kong

The main task of contractors' estimators is to predict the likely costs involved in executing a future project. This is an onerous job as any errors made can undermine project success and ultimately reduce the contractors' profit margins. The inherent uncertainty of most construction work, however, together with the often very short time periods involved, make errors unavoidable. Unsurprisingly, therefore, estimation is considered to be a very stressful business. To identify the nature of the stress involved, a survey of construction estimators in Hong Kong was conducted. Using correlation analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling, the relationships amongst the causes (stressors or stress factors) and effects (stress) were examined and a causal structural model developed. The results indicate work overload, role conflict, job ambiguity, and working environment to be the most critical stressors, with work underload and distrust being the main indirectly influencing factors. These results are similar to those of a previous study with site managers, suggesting that job ambiguity and work overload are the common problem in the construction industry. The study of the manageability of stress is expected to inspire other similar research involving other professionals in the construction industry. This is expected to be of particular significance in the long‐term development of stress management in the industry in general.     

A study of the factors affecting construction durations in Hong Kong

This is the second phase of an investigation into the significant factors influencing construction duration of projects in Hong Kong. The results of the first phase led to the conclusion that larger samples were justified to investigate further the discerned relationships. Expanded samples were obtained in this second phase by adding some reported data from Hong Kong projects to the original surveyed sample. The second phase of this study also further investigates the relationships between different project characteristic variables such as the construction duration, construction cost, total gross floor area and the number of storeys in the case of buildings. Moreover, a case study on plant utilization level and site labour productivity was carried out on a building site to explore the ‘micro-factors’ that affect construction durations. The findings are of importance to all construction industry participants as the derived models help to estimate the construction duration of a project on the basis of significant macro project parameters. Additionally, the results of the case study indicate the contribution of significantly variable site productivity levels to overall construction duration and suggest an agenda for future investigations. A third phase of this study is planned incorporating more detailed data collection and analysis of significant factors, as well as international comparisons where possible.     

香港随感录

本文为作者2013年夏天在香港的旅行笔记,内容涉及城市观感,也有写人记事和对旅行本身的看法。全文由三个段落组成。贯穿其中的线索是商品制度下的城市形态及人的处境。以及在一个信息高度发达的社会中“行走”的方式和意义。     

Development of a partnering performance index (PPI) for construction projects in Hong Kong: a Delphi study

Over the past decade, research studies on benefits, critical success factors, difficulties, process, conceptual and theoretical models of construction partnering have been ubiquitous in the construction management discipline. In fact, there is adequate evidence that an increasing number of client organizations are adopting a partnering approach to undertake their building and construction projects both locally and worldwide during the last decade. With the perceived benefits that partnering brings about, research into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the success of partnering projects in construction becomes vital as it can help set a benchmark for measuring the performance level of partnering projects. However, although there are some related studies and papers on this research area, few, if any, comprehensive and systematic studies focus on developing a comprehensive, objective, reliable and practical performance evaluation model for partnering projects. A model has been developed using the Delphi survey technique to objectively measure the performance of partnering projects in Hong Kong based on a consolidated KPIs' conceptual framework previously developed for partnering projects. Four rounds of Delphi questionnaire survey were conducted with 31 construction experts in Hong Kong. The results reveal that the top seven weighted KPIs to evaluate the success of partnering projects in Hong Kong were: (1) time performance; (2) cost performance; (3) top management commitment; (4) trust and respect; (5) quality performance; (6) effective communications; and (7) innovation and improvement. A statistically significant consensus on the top seven weighted KPIs was also obtained. Finally, a composite Partnering Performance Index (PPI) for partnering projects in Hong Kong was derived to provide an all‐round assessment of partnering performance. Different partnering projects can now be assessed on the same basis for benchmarking purposes. Construction senior executives and project managers can thus use the Index to measure, evaluate and improve the performance of their partnering projects to strive for construction excellence. Although the PPI was developed locally in Hong Kong, the research method could be replicated in other parts of the world to produce similar indices for international comparison. Such an extension would aid the understanding of managing partnering projects across different geographic locations.     

An empirical study of the benefits of construction partnering in Hong Kong

Many construction companies have adopted partnering in their construction projects over the past 10–15 years due to favourable project outcomes achieved. Its use in construction projects has been increasing rapidly as its benefits become more apparent and pervasive. This paper reviews the partnering literature within the construction field and tries to portray the comprehensive picture of benefits for the partnering practice. Through partnering and the active involvement of all key project parties, the project is more likely to be completed within budget, on time, and with the least number of conflicts, claims and work defects. Also, this paper reports upon the findings of a questionnaire survey of partnering benefits in Hong Kong. Seventy‐eight project participants completed a questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of partnering benefits. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client, contractor and consultant for cross‐comparison. The results revealed that ‘Improved relationship amongst project participants’, ‘Improved communication amongst project participants’ and ‘More responsive to the short‐term emergency, changing project or business needs’ were the most significant benefits derived from the use of partnering. More partnering arrangements should be actively introduced into the construction procurement process so that every party can enjoy the full benefits of partnering.     

Construction loans and industry development: the case of Hong Kong

Building contractors are generally small private firms. Bank loans are their major, if not only, source of external finance. However, building and construction loans represent a mere minuscule portion of all bank loans in Hong Kong, suggesting that contractors may have been neglected by banks. With the case of Hong Kong, this study examines the lack of supply and demand of construction finance, and the implications for industry competition and innovation. Contractors’ perceptions were solicited through a questionnaire survey. Key issues identified were further explored in subsequent interviews. The results were then triangulated with secondary data. It is found that although contractors do not usually have enough assets to pledge as collateral, they generally do not need to borrow that much. The provision of interim payments has enabled them to work with small capital outlay. However, the interim payment mechanism has induced a low barrier to entry, which has helped perpetuate the vicious circle of labour intensiveness of building construction, exploitation of labour‐only subcontracting, proliferation of small subcontractors and intense rivalry between firms. The findings conclude that contractors’ limited access to finance generally and bank loans in particular has posed a major barrier to innovation and hence industry development.     

香港的城市规划体系

由于土地资源匮乏 ,加上历史和政治原因 ,香港是一个与众不同的城市地区。从历史回顾、规划法规体系、行政体系和运作体系等方面评述了香港的城市规划体系。     

Management contracting in Hong Kong

Despite technological advancement in building techniques, new construction tools, equipment, and plant, and a greater variety and better quality of construction materials, the construction industry is generally regarded as one making slow progress in productivity. Here the potential of management contracting as a contracting method is considered in depth. Analysis includes assessment of its fundamental features, cost-benefit analysis and practical applications. The feasibility of its adoption in Hong Kong is evaluated.     

Design issues of using prefabrication in Hong Kong building construction

Prefabrication techniques have been adopted for the last two decades in public housing projects in Hong Kong, but the use of prefabrication in the private sector was encouraged only after the implementation of the Joint Practices Notes which promote its use. Although previous studies acknowledge the environmental benefits of using prefabrication, only a few studies have addressed sustainable design concepts (closed‐loop) in the adoption of precast construction. A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced Hong Kong construction professionals, and case studies of recently completed building projects were compiled to ascertain the use of prefabrication with reference to life cycle approach. The findings revealed that prefabrication, combined with modular design and standard components, saved time and construction/design costs, as buildings systems were used across projects. However, in some projects, specific site conditions restricted the use of similar prefabricated building systems across projects. Surprisingly only a few participants addressed life cycle design concepts such as design for deconstruction when adopting precast construction. Also, although it is common knowledge that flexible and demountable prefabricated building systems would result in efficient use of resources, their use is seldom practised in Hong Kong.     

Private Rental Housing in Hong Kong

This paper examines selected aspects of housing policy and its influence on private rental housing in Hong Kong. Its ambitions are modest, in part because so little research has been conducted on the sector, as a consequence of the small size of the sector as well as the concentration of socio-political, economic and policy analyses on the other major housing sectors, namely public renting and home ownership. It is argued that a fundamental function of private renting, to provide a functional substitute and counter-balance to distortions in the market for private home ownership, has been systematically undermined in Hong Kong. In spite of its historical importance in meeting Hong Kong people's housing needs, the sector's decline has been steep and it can now be fairly described as a marginalised tenure, despite incomplete structural adjustment post- Asian Financial Crisis. It is suggested that a fundamental reason for the decline of the private rental sector has been the impact of government policy, which undermined the private rental sector and thus an important element of the market mechanism in housing provision. The government's ideology of home ownership has also functioned to transfer lower middle-income families into the owner occupied sector. Although the Hong Kong government has not been as overtly hostile to this sector as governments have been elsewhere, it nevertheless also seems to envisage no real role for the private rental sector in a housing delivery system molded by policy preference for home ownership, rather than fostering viable economic competition by also facilitating an efficient private rental sector.     

港岛城市剖面

文章借用建筑学上的剖面概念,将其应用到城市尺度的形态分析和空间解读上。作者选取香港中环地区的中环至半山由自动扶梯系统覆盖的城市区域,作为诠释这一概念的具体案例。建筑剖面的传统意义被移植至城市剖面中,即在某一方向上剖切实体之后,通过观察剖切面上空间元素之间的关系,探寻彼此的内在结构,乃至这种城市结构空间背后的特殊历史过程和社会推力。香港岛的地理特征和100多年来城市化过程所形成的带状城市分布使得港岛具有剖面性格,而中环至半山的自动扶梯系统提供了一条重要的剖切线索。通过剖面方法解析,作者希望在城市形态学的分析方法上有新的突破。     

香港郊野公园的发展与管理

香港郊野公园的日常管理由管理科和护理科两个机构来完成。管理科的主要职责是策划郊野公园各项建设计划、管理建设及维修郊野公园内的各项设施;护理科的主要职责是为游客提供信息及服务、推广自然护理保育的知识。     

后生产主义视角下的香港乡村复兴研究

20世纪50年代后,随着香港城市化不断推进,新界乡村居民大规模迁徙到市区,乡村人口锐减、经济衰退、物质景观逐渐衰败。90年代后,香港开始通过不同方式推动乡村转型,取得良好成效,可为内地乡村复兴提供有益参考。从近现代香港乡村演化路径切入,以转型发展中的荔枝窝、盐田仔、大澳村以及南丫岛为例,基于“后生产主义”理论视角探讨乡村复兴的不同驱动方式,包括由精英阶层“多方联合”推动,由本地居民自发保护,由政府或村民开展的“零碎型”保护,以及由中产阶级迁入而推动的“乡村绅士化”等4类乡村复兴方式。香港乡村经历了从“生产主义”向“后生产主义”发展的演化路径,乡村职能从农业生产逐渐转变为乡村消费,城市资本对乡村社会经济空间结构进行重构。香港乡村复兴主要由民间力量推动,政府参与度较低。乡村转型亟待综合性保护规划的制定, 并通过因村施策、多方合作等方式,实现传统文化保护、经济发展等多维度的复兴。     

Defining standard skies for Hong Kong

A CIE International Daylight Monitoring Programme (IDMP) general class station was established in 2000 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The station was upgraded to Research Class IDMP Station in April 2003. The study, which includes the sky luminance scan data collected from April 2003 to May 2005, firstly fits the data to the CIE Standard General Sky definitions, which consist of 15 luminance distributions for modeling the sky from the heavily overcast sky to cloudless clear sky. Then the paper proposes a reduced set of CIE general skies (and their probability of occurrence) to represent the sky conditions of Hong Kong. This reduced set will be known in this paper as “Hong Kong Representative Sky” (HKRS). Further, the paper evaluates the sensitivity of vertical sky component (VSC) to differences between the HKRS and the standard CIE Overcast Sky model. Comparing with observed data, it is demonstrated that the HKRS could give better results. A reduction in error of approximately 20–40% could be expected, depending on the orientation of a surface. Using the HKRS, building designers could better predict daylight availability of their design. Energy saving and more sustainable buildings might result.