Investigating first planning in construction

There is a divergence of research opinion as to the efficacy of detailed front end construction planning (first planning) and its use for strategic or tactical purposes. What really happens in planning construction projects is considered by focusing on comparing the responses of key stakeholders in the construction planning process. Contrasting perspectives of office‐ and site‐based staff upon the accuracy of project timescales are identified together with their dissimilar methods of programme development and preferred first planning detail level. Consistently divergent views are expressed by office‐based preconstruction planners and site‐based construction project managers, including a reluctance to engage others during first planning held by the former and a limited belief in completion of the project to another's timescale (without their personal input) expressed by the latter. Significant role‐based discrepancies in their approach to first planning are revealed and the potential for further research into cultural and behavioural motivators is highlighted.     

Adaptive programme management through a balanced performance/strategy oriented focus

This paper explores how programme management (as opposed to project management) can contribute to the effective design and delivery of megaprojects. Traditionally, project management is considered to be performance focused and task oriented, whilst programme management entails a more strategic focus. The programme management literature suggests that this can result in tensions between the management of the projects and the programme as a whole. This paper uses the findings of the €2.4 billion Room for the River flood protection programme in the Netherlands as a case study, because indicators about its budget, time, quality and stakeholder satisfaction suggest high programme management performance upon completion of the planning and design stage of its 39 river widening projects. Based on a literature review, document analysis and 55 face-to-face interviews, we have analysed how the programme management of the programme contributed to this result. Six attributes for effective programme management that are identified from the project and programme management literature are used to structure the research data. Consecutively, the interactions between project and programme management are analysed. The analysis of Room for the River reveals a combined strategic/performance focus at the level of both programme and project management that enables a collaborative approach between programme and project management. This particularly enables effective stakeholder collaboration, coordination and adaptation of the programme to contextual changes, newly acquired insights and the changing needs of consecutive planning stages, which positively contributes to the performance of the programme as a whole.     

From Projects to Strategies: A Transaction Cost Approach to Politicians' Problems with Strategic Transport Planning

There is a strong trend in Norway towards strategic transport planning at the national level. The new type of integrated and holistic plans requires that members of the national parliament concentrate on strategic decision making and management by objectives, refraining from making decisions on single projects. Interviews with members of the national parliament's Standing Committee on Transport and Communications in 1997 and 2001 are used to study what the politicians mean by strategic transport planning and to present their expectations about its implementation and outcome. The problems experienced by elected representatives in rising above the project level and building transport policy on national strategic plans are the centre of attention. Increased efforts at the strategic planning level induce the national assembly to delegate project level decisions. The transaction cost politics approach sheds light on the question of whether or not members of parliament should delegate most project planning decisions about highways to the executive and what actions planners can take to make delegation more attractive.     

An approach to planning and control of advanced projects

A conventional approach to project planning is inadequate whenever it is applied either to projects that are outside the standard market conditions, or to those (such as the implementation of important transport systems via offshore pipelines) that are subject to environmental situations outside human control. Under these circumstances, an analytical approach based on appropriate design information and simulation techniques is the management tool that allows an early anticipation of implementation and investment schedules and results in more successful project management. The broad outline of such a scheme used during the implementation of offshore pipeline projects in the Mediterranean Basin and the North Sea is described.     

Dynamic planning and control methodology for strategic and operational construction project management

This paper introduces the system's perspective of the dynamic planning and control methodology (DPM), aimed to support both the strategic and the operational aspects of project management. For this objective, a new modeling framework that integrates system dynamics and network-based tools is presented in this paper. The proposed framework adopts system dynamics as a core simulation engine for strategic project management and network-based tools as a wrap layer for operational project management. To implement the DPM framework, a web-based system has been developed within a collaborative environment. The developed system provides great support to both the strategic and operational aspects of project management by integrating familiar network concepts with system dynamics to analyze the overall strategic and operational project performance.     

Planning transport infrastructure: examining the politics of transport planning in Melbourne,Sydney and Perth

Abstract

Australian cities have observed a “consensus turn” expressed as broad public support of greater accessibility and public transport provision as revealed in metropolitan strategic plans. In contrast large-scale road projects proposed to traverse the inner-city of three major Australian cities reveals an ongoing and deep-seated attachment by some to car-based travel in Australian urban transport planning. Comparative case studies of these three road projects in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth explores the impact that an antagonistic relationship between the state and community has on the culture of transport planning. Through observational insights, policy and media analysis and interviews with community groups, we show that this antagonistic planning culture arises when there is a fracture between metropolitan strategic plan-making and project planning, and when clear channels of communication and deliberation are undermined.     

A multicriteria satisfaction analysis approach in the assessment of operational programmes

Ex-post evaluation European Operational Programmes could provide useful information and knowledge that can be used as a guide in future planning.The different concerns of the operational programme stakeholders along with the operating constraints make programme evaluation a difficult and fuzzy task. This paper presents the application of concepts and methodologies of multicriteria data analysis to identify critical success and risk factors in achieving the strategic objectives of a programme. The MUSA (multicriteria satisfaction analysis) method was used for analyzing the satisfaction of project managers with respect to satisfaction criteria associated with four dimensions: the project’s results, the operations of the programme organization, the support of the project organization and the performance of the project team.The specific case study refers to a sample of projects in the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Training in Greece which was funded by the 3rd Common Support Framework. The results show that the proposed methodology can be a valuable tool for programme organizations, especially in the case of “soft” action projects where the deliverables are intangible and project management at beneficiary organizations is provided at an ad-hoc basis.     

“多规合一”信息平台服务于城市建设项目全程管理

通过建立“多规合一”服务体系,构建“多规合一”信息平台,依据“一本规划、一张蓝图”,利用项目生成、辅助选址、合规性审查等功能服务实现涵盖项目策划、用地条件、规划审批、竣工核查等各个阶段的建设项目全过程管理,进而解决经济社会发展规划、城乡规划和土地规划等之间的矛盾,提高建设项目审批效率、提升规划决策水平,推进审批体制改革和机制创新,打造高效政务服务体系,提升社会治理能力。     

从土地利用角度谈生态旅游规划

针对我国目前普遍以旅游策划和旅游管理为主体特征的生态旅游规划,并不能有效解决旅游地现存的土地利用失调、基础设施不完善、产业结构不合理、社区活力衰退、生态退化及环境污染等问题,提出了从土地利用的角度进行生态旅游规划的新思路,并对一相关案例进行了介绍。     

探析场地设计

场地规划设计,是建筑设计和城市规划领域中十分重要的环节,是一个涉及到社会、文化、技术、美学等诸多方面的重要领域。本文从地形差异、用地差异、使用群体差异、工程项目差异四个方面来描述场地设计,以期通过场地设计营造良好的城市空间环境。     

Urban growth and strategic spatial planning in Johannesburg,South Africa

The article examines the way strategic spatial planning in the City of Johannesburg has attempted to reshape existing and emerging spatial patterns of a divided sprawling city, focusing particularly on current initiatives to link spatial planning and infrastructure development through the growth management strategy. The strategy has been well institutionalised in the municipality, with strong political support and links to budgets. New public transport systems are being introduced, linked to spatial plans, although some of these developments have been contested. While the property industry is responding positively to some aspects of planning, moving towards greater spatial equity remains challenging. The planning-infrastructure link seems to be strengthening planning, but it is a demanding approach which requires a very different form of planning than the traditional master planning.     

中等城市地下空间规划编制方法初探

伴随城市的快速发展及土地的集约利用,我国城市地下空间资源开发进入综合发展时期。然而,目前规划编制体系还不尽成熟,未形成不同等级规模城市的地下空间规划编制方法。中等城市的发展存在广阔的空间和可塑性,其地下空间规划的编制对我国未来城市化发展具有重要战略意义。本文结合新沂市中心城区地下空间的规划实践,探索适用于中等城市的地下空间编制方法,引导规划管理。①总规层面:对接上位规划,定性与定量分析相结合,挖掘城市特色,创造地下空间公共价值,合理进行分区引导,实现“刚弹结合”; ②控规层面:衔接规划管理,形成“文字+管控导则”的管控体系。     

工程项目施工规划与造价管理分析

本文通过工程项目施工规划的分析,提出在施工规划时考虑合理有效措施加强造价管理的理念,以达到事前控制造价的目的,强调运用这种理念对工程项目降低施工成本,控制工程造价的重要意义。     

Reflective practice and technical rationality in construction project planning

This study reviews relevant literature to identify the drawbacks of traditional planning algorithms related to technical rationality. It also evaluates the suitability of construction project strategies, to bring reflective practice into construction project planning by using an archival analysis approach. The archival analysis used qualitative data provided by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), UK, for 66 construction projects that are recognised as being successfully delivered. The information was sorted and analysed via NVivo and content analysis, respectively. The findings show that the characteristics of reflective practice are predominant in the problems and strategic solutions mentioned in the CIOB qualitative information. This study emphasises that the two paradigms are not isolated, but associated through three distinct relationships. Recommendations are given for practitioners to use reflective practice, along with technical rationality to strategically solve problems encountered in construction project implementation. Finally, future studies are suggested to minimise the limitations of this qualitative study by integrating quantitative methodologies, to empirically determine the right combination of the two paradigms in the context of construction project implementation.     

基于土地价值的城市规划对房地产开发作用的评价研究——以上海金山新城中心区房地产开发项目评价为例

1城市规划是决定房地产开发及其动态变化的关键性因素之一。探讨城市规划和房地产开发之间的关系,并以上海金山新城近5年来开发的房地产项目为案例进行了实证研究,剖析了城市规划与房地产开发之间的关系,建立了基于土地价值的城市规划对房地产开发作用的评价方法。最后,对基于地价动态评估的城市规划设计、编制及实施管理体系的改进进行了深入探讨。     

Planning Land Reform on a Regional Scale: A Case Study from Brazil

This article makes a case for using regional planning to improve the social and economic regional impact of land reform policy in developing countries. We focus on rural settlements in the Brazilian north-east, where land reallocation has been approached in a variety of ways over many decades. The study identifies problems deriving from the lack of a plan-led strategy, leading to failures in identifying sustainable areas and designing appropriate policy interventions on a regional scale. Based on the planning literature and our empirical results, it is proposed that different views on land reform should be combined into a broader regional strategy. This involves strategic targeting of specific areas to define a portfolio of investment and spending priorities, combined with intergovernmental and intersectoral co-ordination, running from the early stages of a project's formulation until the final stages of its implementation. Additionally, this paper shows that combining top-down and bottom-up approaches to land reform, and supplementing policy-making at the national level with programme/project design and implementation at the subnational level, allows an effective government response to rural poverty and landlessness.     

试论开发区规划管理的几个问题

开发区规划管理工作的矛盾 ,反映了政府职能转变过程中的误区和不适应。开发区是城市系统的有机组成部分 ,开发区的规划管理应当实行统一管理。同时 ,开发区有其自身特点和特殊要求 ,规划必须重视并满足这些特点和需求。将开发区规划从城市规划中分离 ,会对开发区和城市发展产生不良影响。目前的开发区规划普遍缺乏必要的深入研究和技术手段 ,缺少对土地效益、用地结构、开发时序的研究和调控。为此 ,规划的重点应该转向那些市场力不能很好地发挥作用的空间资源的配置 ,必须强调土地利用的效益指向     

Dealing with interrelatedness and fragmentation in road infrastructure planning: an analysis of integrated approaches throughout the planning process in the Netherlands

Planning approaches that integrate road infrastructure and other land uses are being increasingly applied. Dealing with functional interrelatedness and stakeholder fragmentation are the main reasons for this. This article conceptualizes and analyses why and how such integrated approaches can be applied effectively throughout consecutive stages of infrastructure planning. The two case studies illustrate that the concept of integration is applied for strategic as well as operational reasons, and they reveal that these reasons may alternate throughout the planning process. Effective integration is therefore dynamic: it appropriately focuses on strengthening the socio-economic perspectives of a region for the longer term, as well as on the relations between different land uses that are physically adjacent and competing for space within a smaller area. Due to fragmented institutional contexts, successfully dealing with interrelatedness requires an intense level of interaction amongst involved actors. Such “co-production” of visions and plans has two important characteristics: negotiation, and learning about each other’s goals. Ultimately the case studies also show that planning at the infrastructure–land use interface needs institutional mechanisms to guide the alterations between strategically and operationally inspired integration. Contracts with private parties, public participation, and positive conditions for learning about each other’s referential frames are examples of the institutional mechanisms encountered in this study.     

A hybrid simulation approach for quantitatively analyzing the impact of facility size on construction projects

Sizing temporary facilities is a crucial task in construction site layout planning due to its significant impact on project productivity and cost. This paper describes a simulation-based approach for modeling the size of facilities that temporarily contain materials in construction projects. Different methods have been introduced for estimating the required size of this kind of facility; however, space limitations, particularly on congested sites, may not allow the planner to allocate the estimated space to the facilities. This study aims at quantitatively analyzing the impact of facility size on the project and modeling the managerial corrective actions to remedy the space shortage in facilities. To this end, a hybrid discrete-continuous simulation technique is adopted. Simulation is superior in modeling dynamic interactions between variables as well as modeling construction processes with inherent uncertainties. The combination of discrete and continuous simulation is used to enhance accuracy and model the project at both operational level (i.e., activity level with higher level of detail) to estimate production rate, and strategic level (i.e., macro level with lower level of detail) to account for some construction planning decisions such as material management variables. The novelty of this study is analyzing the impact of facility size on the project time and cost, while managerial actions taken to resolve space shortages are modeled, and interdependent influencing parameters of the different disciplines, such as site layout, material management, logistics, and construction process planning are integrated in a unified model. The applicability and suitability of the proposed approach is demonstrated in layout planning of a tunneling project site.     

Moving urban water infrastructure asset management from science into practice

iGPI, the National Initiative for Infrastructure Asset Management is a Portuguese collaborative project led by LNEC (National Civil Engineering Laboratory, Portugal) through which 19 water utilities develop their own infrastructure asset management (IAM) systems and plans in a joint training and capacitation programme. Technical assistance to the participating utilities is ensured by LNEC, IST (Technical University of Lisbon) and Addition, a software development company. The water utilities get collective as well as one-on-one support and specific training. They benefit from networking with the other utilities in a common and simultaneous process, with similar difficulties and challenges, leading to an effective sharing of solutions. The developed products, including training materials, templates and guidelines for developing strategic and tactical IAM plans, are available to the general public. This project has greatly contributed to the establishment of reference methodologies and standards for IAM planning, in a range of utilities of widely diverse size and context, effectively defining an accepted best practice. This paper discusses the project's format and its advantages, and goes on to describe the main outcomes, including selected cases and final products.