Internal and external factors of competitiveness shaping the future of wooden multistory construction in Finland and Sweden

Abstract

In transitioning to a renewable material-based bioeconomy, growing public and industry interest is apparent for using wooden multistorey construction (WMC) as a sustainable urban housing solution in Europe, but its business implications are not well understood. In our study, we evaluate, which internal and external factors of competitiveness are shaping the future of WMC, especially in the context of Finland and Sweden. Based on a multi-level perspective of socio-technical transitions, we conducted a three-stage dissensus-based Delphi study. The identified internal and external factors affecting the future competitiveness of the WMC business emphasize the importance of skilled architects and builders and the role of standardized building systems. Based on our results, the key aspects influencing the future competitiveness of WMC in the region are related to the development of technical infrastructure and project-based business networks, while additional changes in regulatory framework are perceived as less important. We conclude that towards 2030, the strong cognitive rules founded in the concrete-based building culture in these countries is likely to inhibit the dynamics of the socio-technical regime level. A change is also needed in the WMC business culture towards more open cross-sectoral collaboration and new business networks between differentsized players.

Why Not Wood? Benefits and Barriers of Wood as a Multistory Construction Material: Perceptions of Municipal Civil Servants from Finland

“…These findings are in line with earlier studies showing path dependency and stickiness of both formal and informal institutions in the Finnish construction sector [39]. On the other hand, these perceptions contrast with a previous case study on perceptions showing that WMC quality is thought to be suffering from the limited number of WMC industry actors [36].…”

“…This causes what Karakaya [50] dubs a proprietary market-entry barrier to WMC actors attempting to enter, and compete in, the market. The outcome is a path-dependent construction culture, which has also been acknowledged in other studies [13,36,39]. It was also correspondingly discussed, both in this study and in previous research, that active lobbying by the concrete industry further complicates WMC industry development [37].…”

“…Unfortunately, such data are very limited, and not only in the international literature [14,[30][31][32][33][34][35], but in the Finnish context as well. Studies from Finland have focused on topical lenses (e.g., technical innovation, the role of sustainability) as opposed to providing a comprehensive view on general stakeholder attitudes, perceptions, or preferences for WMC [10,[36][37][38][39]. In addition, those studies usually discuss the role of public actors as drivers for WMC diffusion [36], but rarely explore how these actors perceive their own role and engagement in this context.…”

Institutional and policy frameworks shaping the wooden multi-storey construction markets: a comparative case study on Austria and Finland

“…This study relies on the outputs from the third round of the Delphi study, and the interviews of the Finnish (n = 11) experts who participated in that round. In the third round, the interviewees prioritized the most important internal and external factors influencing WMC competitiveness (see also Toppinen et al 2019).…”

“…Referring to Kadefors (1995), Toppinen et al (2019) suggest that the key types of institutions in the wood construction sector include (governmental) regulation, standardization (of products, systems), roles and interest organizations, which can be considered as external factors. The internal institutional factors include tendering systems, standardized skills and knowledge, as well as learning and routine in the ways professionals operate.…”