Engineering the Rural Idyll: Road Construction and the Peri-urban Landscape in Belgium, 1925–1940

As in many other Western countries, the road network in Belgium was subject to an extensive modernisation project during the interbellum period. This paper analyses how this project affected the relationship between the road and landscape. In the absence of a comprehensive landscape project for road construction from the government, other parties played an important role in defining the road's relation to the landscape. Through their publications, images and discourses, an idealised image of landscape—a rural idyll—became interwoven with the narrative of the modern road. We will first position this Belgian project vis-à-vis other road projects abroad, and describe why landscape was a non-issue for the Belgian government and its engineers. Subsequently, we will examine how other parties—the road association, the construction industry, urban planners and architects—appropriated fragments of landscape to frame or support their own projects.     

The propensity for employee participation by electrical and mechanical trades in the construction industry

Using the four input-output tables compiled in Turkey to date, the aim of this paper is to examine the construction sector's role in the Turkish economy and analyse its relationships with the other sectors of the national economy. Analysis results show that the share of construction in Gross National Product (GNP) and National Income (NI) tend to increase whereas the GNP share of manufacturing is relatively stable and that of services tend to increase after an abrupt decrease in 1985; backward linkage indicators and output multipliers, as well as forward linkage indicators and input multipliers of construction industry are stable; and finally, direct and total construction inputs from manufacturing show relative stability and those from services tend to increase in recent years. These findings point out the similarities between the Turkish construction industry and some advanced industrial countries (AICs) like Japan and Italy showing signs of growing ‘maturity’ of the Turkish economy.     

Sustainability and the impact of Chinese policy initiatives upon construction

The environment has been perceived as an international issue, and ways of attaining sustainability are becoming important for countries seeking sustainable development. The international community has been active in developing policy frameworks towards achieving the sustainability, such as an ecological modernization approach and environment assessment. Developing countries deserve special attention in the effort to make sustainability an operative criterion in their development activities. Given the difficulties that developing countries are facing, their perceptions of the concept and principles of sustainability differ in various contexts from those of developed countries, and the attainment of sustainability is much more difficult. Therefore, the establishment of a global partnership is important for the vision of sustainability to be realized and operationalized in the world. The current stage of economic development in China provides an opportunity to incorporate environmental provisions into the national development strategies from a relatively early stage, rather than attempt retrofit to strategies. However, at present China's policy initiatives expressed in its Agenda 21 remains only a visionary concept. A comprehensive policy framework and realistic implementation measures are needed. The environmental impacts of the construction industry are extensive, particularly in developing countries. However, as in many developing countries, China's sustainable construction is still at its primary stage and current practice is unsatisfactory.     

Pricing strategy in the US construction industry

This paper presents several issues related to pricing in construction. First, problems with current pricing strategy in construction are explored. Second, pricing strategies based on a market-based approach are proposed. Third, survey findings of the top 400 US contractors are presented regarding their current pricing practices and the applicability of the proposed pricing strategies. In conclusion, the belief that current pricing strategy in construction is predominantly cost-based is confirmed by the survey findings; indeed, in setting the markup, most contractors rely on their intuition after subjectively assessing the competition. The three internal pricing variables that have the largest statistically significant contingency coefficients with pricing strategy are ‘marketing intelligence capabilities’, ‘annual contract value’, and ‘the type of client in most projects’. ‘Owner's characteristics’, ‘competitors'characteristics’, and ‘market demand’ are statistically significant external variables in making pricing strategy decisions. A change of bidding procedure is proposed so that all parties in construction can maximize the benefits of market-based pricing strategies.     

Reviews Reviewed

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Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries Naomi Caiden and Aaron Wildavsky. Wiley Interscience, John Wiley &; Sons, New York, 1974. 369 pp. $17.50.

Redistribution with Growth: Policies to Improve Income Distribution in Developing Countries Hollis Chenery, M. S. Ahluwalia, C. L. G. Bell, John H. Duloy, and Richard Jolly. Oxford University Press, London, 1974. 304 pp. $16. (cloth), $4.50 (paperback).

The Urban Transition: Comparative Studies of Newly Industrializing Societies John Friedmann and Robert Wulff. Edward Arnold, Ltd., London, 1975, 96 pp, No price

The New Economics of Growth John Mellor. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 1976. 334 pp. $11.50.

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Interdependent Development: Harold Brookfield. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1975. 234 pp. $8.95.

The Philippines: Priorities and Prospects for Development: Russell J. Cheetham and Edward K. Hawkins. The World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1976. 573 pp. $8.50 (paperback)

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Growth Pole Strategy and Regional Development Planning in Asia: United Nations Centre for Regional Development. The Center, Nagoya, Japan, 1976. 136 pp. $12.

Urbanization and Counter-Urbanization (Urban Affairs Annual Reviews, vol. 2): Brian J. L Berry, ed. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1976. 334 pp. $7.50 (paperback).

The Design of Rural Development: Lessons from Rural Africa.: Uma Lele. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1975 (for the World Bank). 246 pp. $3.95 (paperback).

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The Changing Shape of Metropolitan America: Commuting Patterns, Urban Fields, and Decentralization Process 1960-1970: Brian J. L. Berry and Quentin Gillard. Ballinger, J. B. Lippincott, Cambridge, Mass., 1977. 697 pp. $25.

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The Next Two Hundred Years: A Scenario for America and the World: Herman Kahn, William Brown, and Leon Martel. William Morrow, New York, 1976. 231 pp. $8.95 (cloth), $3.95 (paperback).

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