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Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and...
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Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 February 2025) | Viewed by 21450

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Emlyn Witt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tallinn University of Technology, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia
Interests: risk in the built environment; construction management; disaster risk reduction; post-disaster (including post-conflict) reconstruction
Dr. Abdulquadri Ade Bilau

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building, Federal University of Technology, Minna 920101, Nigeria
Interests: disaster risk reduction and resilience of the built environment; programme management for post-disaster/conflict reconstruction; housing and humanitarian shelter; safe school initiative
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to United Nations agencies, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes has doubled to nearly 100 million (UNHCR) in the last decade, the number of international migrants was 280 million in 2020 - up from 150 million in 1990 (IOM), the average number of disaster events has doubled since 1990 to about 500 per year in 2020 and the economic losses associated with these disasters now averages US$200 billion per year (up from US$100 billion in 1995) (UNDRR). Conflict is also wreaking havoc - the Institute for Economics and Peace estimates that, in Syria alone, conflict has seen 17.5% of the nation's housing destroyed and nearly US$120 billion in damage to infrastructure. In Ukraine, a joint assessment by the World Bank, EU and the Government of Ukraine, estimated the costs of reconstruction and recovery to be US$349 billion in August 2022 and these continue to rise.

Whether we consider drivers (e.g. climate change, mass urbanization, geopolitical and civil tensions), events (the COVID-19 pandemic, earthquakes, storms), effects (social, economic, etc.) or solutions, the Built Environment is at the nexus of all these. Its construction and use are key energy consumers and sources of emissions - representing a third of global final energy use, generating nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and resource use - consuming half of total raw materials. The destruction, collapse or failure of buildings and infrastructure is often the mechanism by which conflicts are fought and disasters occur so that the human, social and economic costs are directly related to the extent of damage to the built environment. Post-conflict and post-disaster rehabilitation of communities is also inextricably linked to the provision of housing and infrastructure enabling access to (economic, health, education, etc.) services.

Construction management in the context of new facilities, renovation or refurbishment of existing ones or the reconstruction of damaged or destroyed buildings and infrastructure must adapt to address these challenges and deliver the resilient, sustainable and future-proof built environments that we need. In this Special Issue of Buildings, we aim to publish articles that explore and address the challenges and opportunities for positive change towards resilience and sustainability from a construction management perspective.

To this end, we are pleased to invite manuscripts for original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Construction management and disaster risk management opportunities and challenges in pursuit of a resilient, sustainable and future-proof built environment.
  • Issues and innovations in the management of post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction.
  • Optimisation of whole life social, economic and stakeholder value and utilization of the built environment through the construction and reconstruction processes.
  • Implications of climate change, mass displacement, mass urbanization, disasters and conflict on the built environment and the role of construction management in mitigating and responding to these.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Emlyn Witt
Dr. Abdulquadri Ade Bilau
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • construction management
  • built environment
  • disaster risk reduction
  • risk management
  • reconstruction
  • build back better
  • resilience
  • sustainability
  • Stakeholder value
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review, Other

16 pages, 2396 KiB  
Article
Congestion-Based Earthquake Emergency Evacuation Simulation Model for Underground Structure
by Mintaek Yoo, Sunnie Haam and Woo Seung Song
Buildings 2024, 14(10), 3217; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14103217 - 10 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1035
Abstract
Herein, the Dijkstra algorithm was used to develop a model that considers evacuee congestion and derives an optimal evacuation route in underground structures in the event of an earthquake. The ground conditions and seismic intensities were varied, and the evacuation route was analyzed [...] Read more.
Herein, the Dijkstra algorithm was used to develop a model that considers evacuee congestion and derives an optimal evacuation route in underground structures in the event of an earthquake. The ground conditions and seismic intensities were varied, and the evacuation route was analyzed for four cases. The damage index for each underground structure due to an earthquake was determined considering the ground conditions and structure depth, and the evacuation speed reduction was evaluated as a function of the damage index. A congestion coefficient was applied when the evacuation capacity exceeded the threshold to reflect the evacuation speed reduction due to increased congestion in the same evacuation route. The evacuation route in some sections changed when congestion was considered, and the final evacuation time increased significantly when the congestion coefficient was applied. When the evacuation capacity at each node exceeded the threshold, the 1/3 value was applied as the congestion coefficient to evacuation velocity. When the original evacuation route was used after applying the congestion coefficient, the evacuation time increased by up to 220%. However, the evacuation time can be reduced by applying an alternative route that considers congestion. When an alternative route derived from considering congestion was used, the evacuation time decreased by up to 45% compared to that when the original route was used, and the time required decreased by up to 840 s. Hence, the reduction in evacuation speed due to evacuee congestion must be considered to derive alternative, optimal evacuation routes in the event of a disaster. In addition, evacuation routes should account for the location of evacuees using technologies such as real-time indoor positioning to consider the congestion level of evacuees. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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26 pages, 5061 KiB  
Article
Systematic Mapping of Global Research on Disaster Damage Estimation for Buildings: A Machine Learning-Aided Study
by Dilum Rajapaksha, Chandana Siriwardana, Rajeev Ruparathna, Tariq Maqsood, Sujeeva Setunge, Lalith Rajapakse and Saman De Silva
Buildings 2024, 14(6), 1864; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14061864 - 20 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1624
Abstract
Research on disaster damage estimation for buildings has gained extensive attention due to the increased number of disastrous events, facilitating risk assessment, the effective integration of disaster resilience measures, and policy development. A systematic mapping study has been conducted, focusing on disaster damage [...] Read more.
Research on disaster damage estimation for buildings has gained extensive attention due to the increased number of disastrous events, facilitating risk assessment, the effective integration of disaster resilience measures, and policy development. A systematic mapping study has been conducted, focusing on disaster damage estimation studies to identify trends, relationships, and gaps in this large and exponentially growing subject area. A novel approach using machine learning algorithms to screen, categorise, and map the articles was adopted to mitigate the constraints of manual handling. Out of 8608 articles from major scientific databases, the most relevant 2186 were used in the analysis. These articles were classified based on the hazard, geographical location, damage function properties, and building properties. Key observations reveal an emerging trend in publications, with most studies concentrated in developed and severely disaster-affected countries in America, Europe, and Asia. A significant portion (68%) of the relevant articles focus on earthquakes. However, as the key research opportunities, a notable research gap exists in studies focusing on the African and South American continents despite the significant damage caused by disasters there. Additionally, studies on floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis are minimal compared to those on earthquakes. Further trends and relationships in current studies were analysed to convey insights from the literature, identifying research gaps in terms of hazards, geographical locations, and other relevant parameters. These insights aim to effectively guide future research in disaster damage estimation for buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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17 pages, 3425 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Construction Site Safety Assessment Solution Based on the Integration of Bayesian Network and Analytic Hierarchy Process
by Lizhao Xiao, Llewellyn C. M. Tang and Ya Wen
Buildings 2023, 13(12), 2918; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13122918 - 23 Nov 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1717
Abstract
The building construction industry in mainland China is distinguished by one of the highest accident rates and numbers of fatalities. Therefore, risk assessment plays a significant role in preventing safety incidents and economic losses. However, traditional risk assessment methods are mainly experience-based which [...] Read more.
The building construction industry in mainland China is distinguished by one of the highest accident rates and numbers of fatalities. Therefore, risk assessment plays a significant role in preventing safety incidents and economic losses. However, traditional risk assessment methods are mainly experience-based which could introduce significant uncertainties in accident chain estimation, quantitative analysis, and handling with uncertainty. Safety accidents are difficult to estimate, which might lead to inappropriate safety-related decision making. To solve this problem, an innovative quantitative analysis strategy has been developed, generating a loss index for various accidents in the construction site, based on the Bayesian Network and Analytic Hierarchy Process solution. In this solution, the contribution rate of every risk factor to a certain accident can be calculated. Based on those, the loss index of each construction site can be calculated by inputting current risk factors in the construction site. Moreover, the real-time loss index can be estimated which can help the management team with more accurate decision making compared with the traditional approaches. With this model, the safety situation on the construction site can be clarified and the risk priority can be analyzed according to the dynamic condition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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17 pages, 2243 KiB  
Article
Simulation Analysis of Supply Chain Resilience of Prefabricated Building Projects Based on System Dynamics
by Wei Liu and Zixuan Liu
Buildings 2023, 13(10), 2629; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13102629 - 18 Oct 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3269
Abstract
In light of the intricate dynamics and uncertain risk parameters inherent in the supply chains of prefabricated building projects, bolstering the resilience of these supply chains can substantially mitigate disruption risks and facilitate superior operational outcomes for involved enterprises. This study identifies key [...] Read more.
In light of the intricate dynamics and uncertain risk parameters inherent in the supply chains of prefabricated building projects, bolstering the resilience of these supply chains can substantially mitigate disruption risks and facilitate superior operational outcomes for involved enterprises. This study identifies key metrics emblematic of supply chain resilience within prefabricated building projects, spanning five critical resilience dimensions: predictive prowess, absorptive potential, adaptability, inherent resilience, and growth capability. Employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and system dynamics (SD), we formulate a resilience simulation model specific to these supply chains. Utilizing the Nanchang Yinwang Village Comprehensive Housing Community Project as a case study, we forecast the trajectory of supply chain resilience over a five-year span and simulate the resilience variations in response to diverse variable magnitudes. Our findings reveal a consistent upward resilience trend over the five-year period. Moreover, the resilience stature of the prefabricated building project supply chain exhibits variability under distinct variable shifts. Of all the subsystems, the most reactive secondary factors encompass risk cognizance, logistics support level, collaboration intensity, supply chain reconfiguration aptitude, and managerial strategic decision-making prowess. Notably, amplifying the absorptive potential of resilience yields the most profound enhancement in overall resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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17 pages, 2788 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Building Construction Jobsite Accident Scenarios Based on Big Data Association Analysis
by Ki-Nam Kim, Tae-Hoon Kim and Min-Jae Lee
Buildings 2023, 13(8), 2120; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13082120 - 21 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2625
Abstract
Although there have been many studies related to construction site safety that have tried to reduce accidents, no significant improvement has been reported. Because of the complex nature of construction work processes, it is important to have a scenario-based worksite safety management system [...] Read more.
Although there have been many studies related to construction site safety that have tried to reduce accidents, no significant improvement has been reported. Because of the complex nature of construction work processes, it is important to have a scenario-based worksite safety management system instead of reports such as safety guidelines and manuals. This study utilizes accumulated construction site accident big data, namely Construction Safety Management Integrated Information (CSI), to establish accident scenarios for different work types. To propose accident occurrence scenarios, the hazard profile managed by CSI and prior research analyses are employed for each work type and cause materials at the construction site. For accident occurrence association rules, we developed a framework based on Work Breakdown Structure–Risk Breakdown Structure (WBS-RBS) for reinforced concrete work, temporary work, and earthwork, considering 25,986 accident cases. Subsequently, association analysis was conducted to derive association rules for each work type. The accident occurrence scenarios were extracted by classifying work types (project type, activity type) and cause materials (object, location). The analysis generated 145 association rules, and 76 association rules for reinforced concrete work, temporary work, and earthwork work were extracted to derive accident scenarios, considering scenarios with high accident frequency. Furthermore, by establishing association rules between work processes, we derived accident types and occurrence rules frequently observed at construction sites. These rules formed the basis for constructing accident occurrence scenarios for each construction type based on WBS-RBS. These findings facilitate the development of appropriate safety management plans and effective accident countermeasures tailored to specific construction types and causes. The developed scenarios will help to improve construction site safety by providing useful information for safety managers and worker training. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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Review

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41 pages, 3898 KiB  
Review
A Systematic Literature Review on Transit-Based Evacuation Planning in Emergency Logistics Management: Optimisation and Modelling Approaches
by Seyed Mohammad Khalili, Mohammad Mojtahedi, Christine Steinmetz-Weiss and David Sanderson
Buildings 2024, 14(1), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14010176 - 10 Jan 2024
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5169
Abstract
Increasing disasters in recent years have necessitated the development of emergency logistics plans. Evacuation planning plays an important role in emergency logistics management, particularly when it comes to addressing transit-dependent populations that are often neglected in previous studies. This systematic literature review explores [...] Read more.
Increasing disasters in recent years have necessitated the development of emergency logistics plans. Evacuation planning plays an important role in emergency logistics management, particularly when it comes to addressing transit-dependent populations that are often neglected in previous studies. This systematic literature review explores the current state of transit-based evacuation planning and examines the current gaps. We focused on transit-based evacuation planning problems that used optimisation and modelling approaches. This review conducts an extensive analysis of relevant studies to provide a comprehensive overview, identify research gaps, and outline future directions in the evacuation planning body of knowledge. Using an integrated systematic review methodology, a thorough search of the Scopus and Web of Science databases was conducted, resulting in a total of 538 articles. These articles were screened and evaluated based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, ultimately yielding 82 studies for final analysis. The findings highlight the growing importance of optimisation and modelling approaches within transit-based evacuation planning. Studies emphasize the integration of public transportation networks into evacuation strategies to enhance operational efficiency, optimize resource allocation, and ensure evacuee safety. Transit-based evacuation planning is vital for both those without personal vehicles, making evacuation more equitable, and vehicle owners, particularly in earthquakes where vehicles might be inaccessible or trapped, demonstrating its wide usefulness in all emergency scenarios. Various optimisation and modelling approaches have been employed in transit-based evacuation planning studies to simulate and analyse the flow of evacuees and vehicles during emergencies. Transit-based evacuation planning exhibits unique characteristics within disaster management, including the consideration of spatial and temporal dynamics of transit systems, integration of social and demographic factors, and involvement of multiple stakeholders. Spatial and temporal dynamics encompass transportation schedules, capacities, and routes, while social and demographic factors involve variables such as income, age, and mobility status. Stakeholder engagement facilitates collaborative decision-making and effective plan development. However, transit-based evacuation planning faces challenges that require further research and development. Data availability and accuracy, model validation, stakeholder coordination, and the integration of uncertainty and dynamic factors pose significant hurdles. Addressing these challenges necessitates advances in data collection, robust modelling frameworks, and improved communication and coordination mechanisms among stakeholders. Addressing these gaps requires interdisciplinary collaborations and advances in data analytics and modelling techniques. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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Other

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35 pages, 2192 KiB  
Systematic Review
Advanced Digital Technologies in the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Process—A Review Leveraging Small Language Models
by Alok Rawat, Emlyn Witt, Mohamad Roumyeh and Irene Lill
Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3367; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113367 - 24 Oct 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4141
Abstract
Post-disaster reconstruction of the built environment represents a key global challenge that looks set to remain for the foreseeable future, but it also offers significant implications for the future sustainability and resilience of the built environment. The purpose of this research is to [...] Read more.
Post-disaster reconstruction of the built environment represents a key global challenge that looks set to remain for the foreseeable future, but it also offers significant implications for the future sustainability and resilience of the built environment. The purpose of this research is to explore the current applications of advanced digital/Industry 4.0 technologies in the post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) process with a view to improving its effectiveness and efficiency and the sustainability and resilience of the built environment. The extant research literature from the Scopus database on built environment reconstruction is identified and described. In a novel literature review approach, small language models are used for the classification and filtering of technology-related articles. A qualitative content analysis is then carried out to understand the extent to which Industry 4.0 technologies are applied in current reconstruction practice, mapping their applications to specific phases of the PDR process and identifying dominant technologies and key trends in technology deployment. The study reveals a rapidly evolving landscape of technological innovation with transformative potential in enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of rebuilding efforts, with dominant technologies including GIS, remote sensing, AI, and BIM. Key trends include increasing automation and data-driven decision-making, integration of multiple Industry 4.0/digital technologies, and a growing emphasis on incorporating community needs and local knowledge into reconstruction plans. The study highlights the need for future research to address key challenges, such as developing interoperable platforms, addressing the ethical implications of using AI and big data, and exploring the contribution of Industry 4.0/digital technologies to sustainable reconstruction practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Construction Management, Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction for Resilient and Sustainable Cities)
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