Utilizing Societal Engagement as a Vehicle for Enhancing the Image and Sustainability of the Construction Industry

Abstract

A construction industry encountering uncertain workload, difficulty in workforce renewal, and ultimately endangering its own sustainability jeopardizes not only the long-term health of the industry, but also the sustainable development of a city's infrastructures. Hong Kong is a city facing this problem and there are growing concerns within the industry that there will be an inadequate workforce to meet future demand and that the industry is unable to attract sufficient young talent, in part because of the negative image of the construction industry. This paper aims to examine the role and impact of societal engagement in infrastructure projects. The notion of using societal engagement as a vehicle for enhancing the image and sustainability of the construction industry, thereby also improving the ability to attract new entrants, is proposed in this paper. It is also suggested that the construction industry's interaction with the public should be a continuous process on a daily basis through a professional workforce that promotes safety, environmental responsibility and caring for the needs of society, rather than only during public engagement events for individual projects.

Project management for social good

“…Matinheikki et al, 2017;McKenzie, 2004;Vallance et al, 2011). Yet, we argue that social sustainability in construction projects should be equally focused on needs of the internal stakeholders (the workers) due to following reasons; (1) higher organizational attention towards external stakeholders may be internally perceived as "hypocritical" and lead to employee turnover (Scheidler et al, 2019), and (2) workforce sustainability in the construction industry is being threatened (Sing et al, 2017) by challenges like harsh site conditions and high safety risk (Comaru and Werna, 2013), largely unorganized industry, intermittent "feast or famine" work (Wong et al, 2012), and inadequate workforce facilities and compensation. These challenges Securing land in a way that is legal and sensitive to local culture, engaging the community in the project life cycle, and designing with sensitivity to the local culture, for maximum efficiency of water supplies, using locally sustainable systems for energy and thermal comfort, in safe manner for the occupants, that can be safely constructed by the local population, using locally understood construction methods and using locally sustainable and affordable materials could be addressed by keeping workers' welfare at the core of social sustainability (Clarke, 2006).…”

Arguments for a co-production approach to community flood protection

“…The benefits of the participatory model include: identification of the needs and values of the community (Faehnle et al, 2014;Few et al, 2007;O'Riordan and Stoll-Kleeman, 2002); fostering a trusting partnership (Bickerstaff et al, 2010;Young et al, 2013); good future working relations (Orenstein et al, 2010); positive reputational benefits for industry (Wong et al, 2012); reduction of conflicts of interest (Fordham et al, 1991); and avoidance of planning delays (Ledoux et al, 2005). However a participatory process also poses many challenges for industry professionals, including: incorporating the plethora of values, interests, opinions and knowledge (Cleaver, 2001;Moon et al, 2017); financial, time and resource pressures (Correia et al, 1998); managing conflicts of interest between stakeholders (Fordham et al, 1991;Moon et al, 2017); and risking the technical success of a scheme (O'Brien, 2009).…”

Street work policy in England, UK: insights from stakeholders

“…Businesses felt that street works were damaging, and, despite being significantly affected, they had little influence on street work operations. Wong et al (2012) stressed that limited communication with the public about construction projects can result in a negative image of companies executing works, which should be avoided.…”

“…Two contractors agreeing to work together does not happen as companies want to maximise their profits'. The construction industry is well documented as an industry symptomatic of fragmentation through its processes, procurement and working practices (Greenwood and Wu, 2012;Xue et al, 2010) and driven by entrenched adversarial relationships where there is no natural desire to work collectively and for the common purpose (Wong et al, 2012). Further, the construction industry workforce was considered a key party in enabling/restraining advancement of street works (LA1, UG1, R1, R2).…”