Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 54803

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xianbo Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Central Queensland University, 400 Kent st., Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Interests: sustainable construction; project organization management; smart construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Yingbin Feng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Interests: construction management; organisational culture and behaviours; safety management; supply chain management; sustainable procurement
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Ming Shan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, 68 South Shaoshan Road, Changsha 410075, China
Interests: construction professional ethics; sustainable construction management; project assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructures are both important concerns of stakeholders. The resilience of civil infrastructures aims to achieve robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, and rapidity in response to the extreme events (e.g., earthquakes, floods, cyclones, etc.) and encompasses technical, organizational, social, and economic dimensions. The sustainability of civil infrastructures aims to achieve sustainable development in the social, environmental, and economic aspects. Resilience and sustainability are indeed interrelated.

This Special Issue focuses on innovative management practices to enhance the resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructures by soliciting theoretical, methodological, and empirical researches. The specific topics include, but are not limited to, the following: the integration of risk and resilience management approaches, the relationship between resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructures, disaster risk management of civil infrastructures, sustainable infrastructure management, decision-making related to sustainable and resilient civil infrastructures, etc. Innovative management practices will facilitate the adoption of relevant technology in the field of resilient and sustainable civil infrastructures. This Special Issue welcomes review articles and research articles that are associated with all aspects of management related to the resilience and sustainability of civil infrastructures.

Dr. Xianbo Zhao
Dr. Yingbin Feng
Dr. Ming Shan
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

civil infrastructure
resilience
sustainability
project management
crisis management
disaster management

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (11 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 626 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Performance Measurements for Public–Private Partnership Projects: Empirical Evidence from China

by Yanhong Liang and Hongdi Wang

Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3653; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133653 - 3 Jul 2019

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5316

Abstract

The world is witnessing a global momentum of public–private partnership (PPP) development, along with the inherent complexities associated with the long-term construction, operation, and maintenance periods of numerous PPP projects. Performance measurements for PPP projects are critical for ensuring stakeholders’ interests in a sustainable way, without scarifying future generations’ interests in terms of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. A system of five-dimension sustainable performance measurements for PPP projects is proposed in this study and a questionnaire survey was conducted to solicit professional opinions on its effectiveness based on current PPP practice in China. A total of 79 professionals with PPP working experiences in China participated in the survey, among which five were chosen for interviews to validate and deepen the understandings of the findings. It reveals that the five dimensions have essential impacts on current PPP practice in China, though with varying extent of importance. The private sector has developed a sense of achieving a long-term financial return, which might have indeterminate results on the benefits of end users. The increasing trend of sustainability concerns in the PPP project performance measurement is confirmed, and it is partially due to the central government’s “High-Quality Development” initiatives. This study contributes to the theoretical discussions of establishing sustainable performance measurements for PPP projects, and it has practical implications for the public sector to improve PPP project evaluation methods and incentive mechanisms, so as to promote project sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1118 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Capital Structure of Public–Private Partnership Projects: A Sustainability Perspective

by Jing Du, Hongyue Wu and Ruoyu Jin

Sustainability 2019, 11(13), 3505; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133505 - 26 Jun 2019

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5517

Abstract

Capital is key to achieve the standardized operation of public–private partnership (PPP) projects. The capital structure of PPP projects stresses the structure of equity and debt funds, which are important for securing life-cycle ample funds and achieving the expected outcomes of projects. By incorporating sustainability into PPP projects, the capital structure not only secures current needs of funds, it also focuses on life-cycle stable operations and achieves economic, social, and environmental benefits. This study first set the equity–debt ratio and equity investment ratio of the private sector as the dependent variables and built a selection model of the capital structure of PPP projects from a sustainability perspective using the benefit, cost, and project conditions as core factors based on multi-objective programming and a discounted cash-flow model. Then, the qualitative analysis could be achieved according to the analysis of critical factors that had not been calculated. Afterwards, a selection process which combined the multi-objective programming model with qualitative analysis was proposed to achieve a comprehensive selection of the capital structure of PPP projects from the sustainability perspective. Finally, the process was applied to a real project to verify its rationality and usability. This study not only enriches the theoretical research of PPP projects and provides a new idea on which to build the capital structure selection model, it also proposes a selection process that can provide scientific references for the selection and optimization of the capital structure of PPP projects in practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 5611 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Properties of New Dry-Type Beam-Column Bolt Connection Joint

by Wei Ma, Yue Li, Kewei Ding, Baoquan Cheng, Jianhua Liu, Jianli Hao and Vivian Wing Yan Tam

Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3348; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123348 - 17 Jun 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5319

Abstract

Beam–column assembled joint connections are crucial for realizing the industrialization of buildings through prefabrication. This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of a new dry-type high-strength bolt connection joint used in prefabricated buildings. The structural performance properties examined include bearing capacity, stiffness, failure mode, energy dissipation capacity, and deformation performance, all of which are tested through a pseudo static test involving low-cycle repeated loading. The test results show that the failure of the new dry-type beam–column connection joint is through plastic failure, with full hysteretic curve and good energy dissipation performance. The results provide a foundation for the analysis of assembled structural framework systems based on different forms of dry-type connection joints. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 8956 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Development of Urban Rail Transit Networks: A Vulnerability Perspective

by Jiangang Shi, Shiping Wen, Xianbo Zhao and Guangdong Wu

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1335; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051335 - 4 Mar 2019

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 5281

Abstract

Urban rail transit (URT) systems are critical to modern public transportation services. Unfortunately, disruptions in URT systems can lead to dysfunction and threaten sustainable development. This study analyses URT network sustainability from a vulnerability perspective. Two network attack scenarios, including random attacks and intentional attacks, are designed to assess different kinds of disruptions to URT networks. Under random attacks, nodes are randomly removed from the network. In contrast, under intentional attacks, key nodes are identified and removed based on topological metrics and passenger flow volume. Then, URT network vulnerability is evaluated by quantifying the changes in network efficiency and structural integrity under the network attacks from a spatio-temporal point of view. The real-world case of the Shanghai URT system from 1993 to 2020 is used to illustrate the vulnerability in the evolution of the URT system. The results indicate that the URT network is increasingly fault-tolerant and structurally robust over time. The URT network is more vulnerable to intentional attacks than to random failures. Additionally, there are significant spatial differences in the vulnerability of Shanghai URT network. Stations in the central activity zone (CAZ) are more fault-tolerant and robust than stations located outside of the CAZ. Furthermore, stations with large centrality and greater passenger flow volumes and lines with many key nodes and greater passenger flow volumes, are vulnerable to disruptions in the URT networks. This study provides a new index to comprehensively quantify node centrality; it also fills a research gap by analysing the vulnerability of URT networks based on both longitudinal and spatial patterns. Finally, this paper highlights significant practical implications for the sustainable development of URT networks, as well as the sustainable development of public transportation services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 5342 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Implementation of Best Productivity Practices in Maintenance Activities, Shutdowns, and Turnarounds of Petrochemical Plants

by Pramesh Krishnankutty, Bon-Gang Hwang, Carlos H. Caldas, Sriya Muralidharan and Daniel P. de Oliveira

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1239; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051239 - 26 Feb 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4787

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a method to assess the level of implementation of best productivity practices in the petrochemical industry. The proposed methodology focuses on construction, maintenance activities, shutdowns, and turnarounds. Its novelty and importance are emphasized by the lack of productivity studies that target these types of projects. This article reports the research methodology steps including tool development and detailed case study assessments of projects in Singapore. The approach involved the verification of best productivity practices and the development of an assessment method designed to fit the characteristics of petrochemical projects. The assessment points out productivity practices with low implementation levels and provides recommendations to increase their usage. The results showed that the level of implementation of productivity practices in the petrochemical projects investigated was 68.42%, out of a maximum score of 100%. Practices related to Material Management and Equipment Logistics received the lowest scores and recommendations on how to bridge this productivity practice implementation gap were provided. The adoption of the Best Productivity Practices Implementation Index (BPPII) as a Productivity management tool will help the petrochemical plants to improve productivity in their projects and to be resilient during the pre-planning phase. This should also allow the petrochemical industry to attract more investments and remain competitive in order to be sustainable. The identification and analysis of practices related to maintenance activities, shutdowns, and turnarounds of petrochemical plants will significantly contribute to the body of knowledge on best productivity practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 2927 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Underground Logistics System on Urban Sustainable Development: A System Dynamics Approach

by Jianjun Dong, Yuanxian Xu, Bon-gang Hwang, Rui Ren and Zhilong Chen

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1223; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051223 - 26 Feb 2019

Cited by 53 | Viewed by 5775

Abstract

The lack of practical application and accurate benefit analysis, which are the prerequisites for each other, make it difficult to implement and promote the underground logistics system (ULS), although in theory people always recognize its advantages in sustainable improvement of urban transportation and logistics. This paper attempts to use the system dynamics (SD) method, based on the real-world simulation, to analyze the quantitative relationship between the implementation strategy of ULS and the sustainability of urban transportation and logistics to solve this problem. Beijing city, China, was selected as the empirical background. Four ULS implementation strategies were proposed according to the city’s potential investment in ULS and its demand for ULS network capacity. Meanwhile, four representative indicators were selected to evaluate the simulation results, including the average speed of the road networks in the peak hour, congestion loss, delivery travel time in the peak hour and the PM emissions of the truck. Good fitting index of historical data shows the validity of the model. Simulation results show that ULS, as a supplement to the urban integrated transport system, can significantly improve urban traffic and logistics. This study provides a perspective in the systematic and quantitative analysis of ULS to support the urban sustainable development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 607 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Drivers and Performance of Environmental Practices in the Chinese Construction Industry

by Ying Li, Ronggui Ding and Tao Sun

Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030614 - 24 Jan 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3798

Abstract

With the global concern of environmental protection and sustainability, construction firms are required to develop and implement environmental practices (EP) to mitigate the negative impacts of project activities on the environment. This paper attempts to explore two potential drivers (i.e., government regulations and project team’s knowledge and skills) and performance outcomes (i.e., environmental performance and organizational performance) when the firm implementing EP in construction projects. A survey-based research design was developed to measure the drivers, EP implementation, and performance and to collect data in the Chinese construction industry. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that a project team’s knowledge and skills, rather than government regulations, are the key driving factors for the implementation of EP in construction projects. EP implementation is proved to have a positive impact on both environmental and organizational performance. This study provides empirical evidence for project environmental management research and offers managerial insights on how to promote EP in the construction industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 581 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Winner Determination for Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Projects in Multi-Attribute Reverse Auctions

by Guang-Xin Gao

Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 4129; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114129 - 9 Nov 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3651

Abstract

Selection of a sustainable private partner (contractor) is significant to ensure the success of public-private partnership (PPP) projects. In recent years, multi-attribute reverse auctions (MARAs) are widely used in public procurement to select the desirable contractor. However, the MARA mechanism is neglected in the existing studies. The purpose of this paper is to present a MARA framework for selecting a sustainable contractor in PPP infrastructure projects, in which the MARA rules and an integrated winner determination method are involved. In particular, the sustainability considerations are incorporated in the MARA rules, which can make the potential contractors have incentives to improve their sustainable performance. Within the MARA rules, based on the trapezoidal fuzzy linguistic representation model and the classical two-additive Choquet (TAC) integral operator, a winner determination method is developed to evaluate and rank potential contractors, in which both the bid evaluation and the interrelationships among bid evaluation attributes are considered. Finally, the potential of the proposed method is shown through an illustrative case of a PPP project of a subway construction in China. The MARA framework investigated helps governments make reliable decisions in sustainable procurement and thereby facilitates successful project delivery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Impacts of Dam-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: A Comparative Case Study in China

by Youliang Huang, Wensheng Lin, Shan Li and Yan Ning

Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 4018; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114018 - 2 Nov 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 6303

Abstract

Dam projects are inevitably accompanied by massive displacement and resettlement, which imposes intricate social impacts on the host community. This study aims to investigate the social impacts of dam-induced displacement and resettlement in China through a comparative case study where both the control and experimental groups were investigated. Data were collected through a mix of questionnaire-survey, archival files, and face-to-face interviews. The results show that dam-induced displacement and resettlement was conducive to improving residence conditions and facilitating the acceptance of rural cooperative medical insurance. But it had negative impacts on employment, income level and income resource, and overall well-being. Implications for theory and for practice are provided in the end. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Achieving Economically Sustainable Subcontracting through the Hotelling Model by Considering the Spillover Effect

by Jianbo Zhu, Qianqian Shi, Peng Wu, Zhaohan Sheng and Xiangyu Wang

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3291; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093291 - 14 Sep 2018

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3080

Abstract

In the process of internationalization of construction contractors, international enterprises as main contractors (IMC) need to consider whether part of the contract should be subcontracted to local subcontractors (LSC) to gain a competitive advantage when competing with local main contractors (LMC). The involvement of local subcontractors can usually help reduce cost through the cost spillover effect. However, it should be noted that the share of local subcontractors with local main contractors with an inferior quality may lead to quality spillover. The Hotelling model is therefore adopted to investigate the subcontracting decisions of main contractors considering both cost and quality spillover effects. Many scenarios are simulated and the results show that LMCs with inferior quality can always choose the subcontracting strategy to obtain increased profit regardless of the strategy that IMCs adopt. On the other hand, IMCs need to balance the cost spillover of subcontracting and the quality spillover for improving the quality level of LSCs. The results are useful for contractors to make decisions that are relevant to the adoption of subcontracting strategies to obtain competitive advantages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1095 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating Private Sectors’ Behavioral Intention to Participate in PPP Projects: An Empirical Examination Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

by Yanchun Zhang, Jianglin Gu, Ming Shan, Yazhi Xiao and Amos Darko

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2692; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082692 - 1 Aug 2018

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4893

Abstract

The active involvement of private sectors in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects is critical for sustainable development of the PPP mode. While there have been many studies on PPP in the literature, limited research has been conducted to investigate the critical factors that affect the intention of the private sector to participate in PPP projects. To bridge the knowledge gap, this study proposed a theoretical model based upon the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and then tested it based upon empirical data collected from China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed in testing the model. Results indicated that “perceived behavioral control”, “governmental influence”, and “private sectors’ attitude toward PPP” were the three most significant latent variables affecting the intention of private sectors to participate in PPP projects; and “financial capability”, “full compliance with PPP contracts”, and “profitability” were the three most significant observable variables affecting the intention of the private sector. The research findings contribute to the body of knowledge about private sector involvement in PPP projects in a Chinese context, and also provide solid support for the government to issue relevant polices or undertake reforms to attract more private sectors to participate in the PPP projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Innovative Management Practice for Resilience and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructures

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (11 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI