AbstractApproximately 4% of the private buildings in Hong Kong are older than their design lives of 50 years. In addition to the engineering factor, the lack of timely maintenance and proper ...management has led to a serious problem of building dilapidation in the old urban areas. On account of the high-rise high-density urban setting in Hong Kong, the problem has engendered severe safety and health hazards for the local community. Although different ways of urban renewal or regeneration exist to revitalize the urban environment, it appears that redevelopment is most frequently used. However, the speed of dilapidation would probably exceed the economy’s capability of absorbing redevelopments. In addition, redevelopments have detrimental effects on the social fabric and create a large volume of demolition and construction waste that greatly surpasses the current landfill capacity in Hong Kong. A sustainable strategy for urban renewal is, therefore, urgently needed. This research aims to establish an existing profile of the building conditions in Hong Kong and evaluate the suitability of various urban renewal strategies for different buildings through the establishment of a structured building assessment scheme called the Dilapidation Index (DI). In total, 393 private residential buildings randomly selected from 4 districts in Hong Kong were assessed by using the DI. The results indicated that the assessed buildings in Sham Shui Po were more problematic than those in other districts. The results also suggested that physical conditions and management factors play nearly equal parts in differentiating the well-performing buildings from the dilapidated ones. The DI developed in this research is beneficial to different parties with an interest in the quality of the urban built environment because it can help people identify problematic buildings for further actions.
Purpose – This paper aims to seek a greater understanding of the conceptualization of mega-event flagship (MEF) development as a point of departure to forge the much-needed organizational capacities ...in these regions. An MEF constitutes a temporarily themed venue for a mega-event and a transforming force on corresponding urban renewal. The unfailing demand for MEFs from emerging hosts after historical failures in the West draws attention to a glaring weakness of extant literature in wanting of evidence-based case studies. Design/methodology/approach – Due to the explorative nature of research and the context-dependent complexities, the case study method is used for studying the case of Theme Pavilion – one of the four key flagships led by Expo 2010 to catalyze an ambitious urban renewal in Shanghai, China. The focus is on its conceptualization process (2004-2007) where different copying strategies were tested and consolidated to facilitate the post-event transformation. Data were collected mainly through participant observation in that duration. Findings – For future Expo hosts, exhibition center developers and the event industry, the study concludes with eight constructive lessons, namely, clustering strategy, different integration, pre-post orientation, diversification for adaptation, development by stage, flexible mindset, the end crowns the work and building local capacity. Research limitations/implications – Given the qualitative nature of the study, some results may not be fully generalizable. While showing the possibility of sustaining MEF development given the right coping strategy, it also reveals implementation difficulties and emphasizes the importance of continued case studies. Originality/value – The study will contribute fresh insights into forging better strategies to cope with transformation difficulties of MEF development and building greater capacity to accomplish affiliated renewals and other significantly comparable urban projects in emerging economies.
The lack of a proper building care culture has led to serious problems of urban decay in most developed cities, threatening community health and safety. To arrest urban decay, redevelopment is a ...commonly adopted approach for regenerating rundown areas. Redevelopment often results in negative outcomes such as disturbances to existing social networks and burgeoning construction and demolition waste. On the other hand, building rehabilitation is a more socially and environmentally friendly alternative to redevelopment, but its success depends much on residents’ active participation. With a view towards a sustainable strategy for urban renewal, it is necessary to balance the interests of different stakeholders regarding the choice between these two mainstream approaches to renewal. Although economic and physical issues are important decision making considerations, this study explores the aspirations and preferences of local residents in relation to the two options through a structured survey. The findings are conducive to the development of a balanced and socially sustainable strategy of urban renewal.
Pomanjkanje prave kulture skrbi za stavbe je v večini razvitih mest pripeljalo do resnih težav zaradi propadanja mestnih predelov, in to ogroža zdravje in varnost mestnih skupnosti. Sanacija je ...pristop, s katerim navadno ustavimo propadanje in obnovimo propadajoča območja. Pogosto pa ima tudi negativne posledice; zmoti lahko delovanje obstoječih socialnih mrež in pretirano poveča količino odpadkov, ki nastanejo pri gradnji in rušenju zgradb. Po drugi strani je obnova stavb socialno in okolju prijaznejša izbira v primerjavi s prenovo, vendar je njen uspeh kar najbolj odvisen od sodelovanja stanovalcev. Če želimo doseči trajnostno strategijo urbane prenove, moramo najti ravnotežje med interesi različnih déležnikov za enega od obeh glavnih pristopov k prenovi. Čeprav je pomembno, da pri sprejemanju odločitev upoštevamo ekonomska in fizična vprašanja, se v tej raziskavi s strukturirano anketo preučujejo želje in preference lokalnih prebivalcev glede teh dveh možnosti. Ugotovitve prispevajo k razvoju uravnotežene in socialno trajnostne strategije urbane prenove.
Gone are the days when knowledge sharing depended solely on face‐to‐face meetings. With the help of Web 2.0, rapid and dynamic cross‐border knowledge sharing among construction safety researchers has ...become possible. Nevertheless, empirical observation has shown that researchers are falling behind the curve. Generally speaking, there are two major types of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic. Introducing extrinsic motivators on top of intrinsic motivators can produce better results than relying solely on intrinsic motivation.
Constructions accidents have led to many workers in Hong Kong seriously injure or even die every year. Huge sum of money has been spent on compensation by contractors. Lack of safety knowledge is one ...of the causes behind these accidents. While information technology has become part of the indispensible lives among youngsters and teenagers, it is foreseeable that construction workforce on site in the coming decade will meet certain level of computer skills and knowledge. With the help of information technology, geographical boundary in knowledge sharing among safety officers or relevant stakeholders from all over the world is removed. Faster knowledge sharing is also expected. Knowledge sharing among construction workforce in Hong Kong is still restricted in traditional face-to-face interaction. Use of information technology in construction companies is still piecemeal and limited on daily work communication. This paper aims to study the possible motivation in sharing construction safety knowledge inter and intra construction organizations.
Falsework is a temporary structure supporting the permanent structure while it is not self-supporting. Falsework is commonly required in concrete construction which involves a number of parties such ...as the design engineer, contractor, subcontractor, supplier and checking engineer. In the past, many failures occurred due to procedural inadequacy such as confusion in responsibility delineation and communication. In Hong Kong, during the last six years, at least eight major falsework collapses have been reported. Researchers studying falsework failures have devised models for analysis and prediction. However, procedural inadequacy has not been adequately considered and assessed in these models. Further, these models were mainly used to predict the likelihood of eventual failure at loading stage without evaluating the safety condition at various stages of falsework construction. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop a procedural framework that can be used to assess the proneness to failure at different stages of constructing falsework in Hong Kong, thus, warning can be given promptly.
Falsework is a temporary structure supporting the permanent structure while it is not self-supporting. Falsework is commonly required in concrete construction which involves a number of parties such ...as the design engineer, contractor, subcontractor, supplier and checking engineer. In the past, many failures occurred due to procedural inadequacy such as confusion in responsibility delineation and communication. In Hong Kong, during the last six years, at least eight major falsework collapses have been reported. Researchers studying falsework failures have devised models for analysis and prediction. However, procedural inadequacy has not been adequately considered and assessed in these models. Further, these models were mainly used to predict the likelihood of eventual failure at loading stage without evaluating the safety condition at various stages of falsework construction. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop a procedural framework that can be used to assess the proneness to failure at different stages of constructing falsework in Hong Kong, thus, warning can be given promptly.
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