The article is devoted to the study of issues of financial support for housing construction in terms of budgetary policy instruments. The purpose of the article is to analyze and characterize the composition of budgetary policy instruments for financing housing construction in Ukraine. Information on current programs for providing affordable housing to the population is analyzed, namely: «eOselia», «Domivka+», «Housing rental subsidy», Program for preferential long-term lending to youth, «Own home». The «eOselia» program is an affordable housing lending program implemented by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and PJSC «Ukrfinzhytlo». «Domivka+» provides for the rental of housing with a preemptive right to buy it out on favorable terms. «Housing rental subsidy» aims at obtaining a subsidy or part of the cost of hiring IDPs whose rental expenses exceed 20 % of income under certain conditions. The program of preferential long-term lending to youth provides for the provision of preferential loans for the construction or purchase of housing. «Own home» is a program aimed at providing preferential loans for the construction, reconstruction or purchase of housing in rural areas. The essence of the above programs is disclosed and information is summarized in terms of the entities implementing them and the participants involved. The regulatory and legal framework for the functioning of these programs is studied. The characteristic advantages and disadvantages of the above programs are outlined. Information on the affordable housing lending program «eOselia» is considered in detail and summarized as one of the most relevant budget policy instruments in financing housing construction. The terms of lending under the program are analyzed and statistical information on the number of loans provided under the «eOselia» program is summarized. The dynamics of the volume of loans granted during 2022–2024 was analyzed in terms of the program’s partner banks. Statistical information on the number of loans granted in terms of real estate is summarized: in the primary market, in the secondary market and from the developer. Generalized information on the number of loans granted in terms of territorial representation and in terms of categories of borrowers provided for by the program is provided. A trend towards an increase in the value of real estate in the western regions of Ukraine was identified, which is primarily due to the influence and consequences of military operations.
The digital revolution has catalyzed innovation across multiple sectors, yet the construction industry has been comparatively slow to adopt emerging technologies. Industrialized Building (IB), characterized by off-site production, modular systems, and digital integration, has re-emerged as a focal point in both industry and academic discourse. Despite its historical roots, IB remains underexplored in terms of its relationship with design-value principles. This paper explores how design can act as a strategic driver within IB, enhancing its economic, social, and environmental impact. The author is guided by the hypothesis that integrating design-value principles into industrialized construction processes can foster innovation, sustainability, and systemic transformation. Using a qualitative methodology based on a structured literature review and cross-national comparative analysis, the paper examines historical trajectories, regulatory frameworks, and technological trends influencing IB adoption. The field of application focuses on European construction contexts, with particular attention to the role of design in aligning industrialized methods with circular economy principles and evolving policy objectives. Findings suggest that design value is a critical yet underutilized dimension in the evolution of IB, offering pathways for improved performance, adaptability, and cultural relevance in contemporary construction practices.
[Purpose/Significance] From the perspective of value chain collaboration, a trusted data space system adapted to the characteristics of smart library scenarios is constructed, aiming to solve the systematic problems such as fragmented cross-domain integration, a lack of trusted guarantee, and inefficient value transformation in current library data governance. The study will contribute to improving the theoretical framework for governing library data. It also provides practical guidance on balancing the contradiction between data circulation and security, as well as on releasing the operational value of data elements. This helps smart libraries to strengthen their core functions in terms of public cultural service provision and knowledge empowerment. [Method/Process] Adopting a public value approach, we analyzed the coupling logic and value dimension of technical collaboration, rights and responsibilities, and scenario adaptation in the value chain links, as well as the hierarchical improvement laws of the data, knowledge, service and ecosystem layers. This was based on clarifying the four core elements of the trusted data space of smart libraries: data, subject, technology and system. We also examined the characteristics of trusted collaboration and value progression. The collaborative optimization process was examined in conjunctionwas with the links between the various stages of the data lifecycle. The path of expansion for the cross-chain ecosystem was constructed through collaboration between libraries, industry links, and social empowerment. We ensure a high degree of compatibility with the scene requirements of smart libraries. [Results/Conclusions] The trusted data space system of smart libraries consolidates the foundation of data trustworthiness through technological integration, activates the efficiency of the value network through the collaboration of subjects, consolidates the basis of operation guarantee through institutional norms, and extends the coverage boundary of services through value transformation, thus forming a governance pattern of four-dimensional interaction among technology, subjects, systems, and values. Based on this, four collaborative strategies, namely ecological niche reconstruction, capability leap, dynamic risk governance and value closed loop, are proposed. These strategies ultimately facilitate a systematic transition from the aggregation of data resources to the co-creation of ecological value. In the future, the element configuration and collaborative mechanism of the trusted data space can be optimized in combination with the service positioning of different libraries. The goal can be achieved through pilot construction, which will allow us to collect practical data, verify the system's feasibility and effectiveness, and explore the integrated application path of AI large models and trusted data spaces.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources, Agriculture
The implementation of smart technologies as well as artificial intelligence resulted in an increase in productivity and efficiency in production, optimization of costs, and automation of time-consuming processes. The situation is similar in the field of the production of construction products. Digitization and automation are challenges within Industry 4.0 (Construction 4.0), which are the subject and interest of several studies and discussions by experts in the field. The aim of the research is to analyze the relationships between digitization in the industry, artificial intelligence, and performance in the design, production, and use of construction products in the context of Industry 4.0 principles. The research uses primary and secondary data on the use of AI and its potential and impacts in the field of performance and efficiency in design, production, and use in civil engineering. Several statistical tools are used in the analysis, from descriptive statistics to the use of statistical tests and correlation and regression analysis. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was the primary tool for evaluating the dependence between variables. The research results point to the connection and dependence between the use of AI and digitization in individual design and production activities. Autonomous production machines, the production of ore products, and generative design represent areas of production in the construction industry, where the use of AI and digitization makes sense from the point of view of the performance of the results. Innovations and intelligent tools within the concept of Industry 4.0 (Construction 4.0) are, therefore, a prerequisite for an effective setting of design and production in this industry as well.
Calazans Kaline Guerra, Lima Paulo Roberto Lopes, Toledo Filho Romildo Dias
The use of cementitious composites reinforced with plant fibers in construction elements has emerged as a promising alternative to mitigate the environmental impact of the construction industry. The challenge of chemical incompatibility between plant fibers and the matrix has been addressed through the incorporation of mineral additives, with metakaolin being the most commonly used despite its high energy consumption during production and CO2 generation. An alternative to this industrial additive is rice husk ash (RHA), a pozzolanic material derived from agricultural waste. The research aims to evaluate the influence of a high RHA content replacing cement on the mechanical properties and sustainability indicators of composites reinforced with 4 % and 6 %, by mass, of sisal fibers. Composites incorporating 50 % RHA exhibited higher compressive strength, multiple cracks, and increased toughness under flexion compared to composites with metakaolinite, fly ash, and silica of fume. Sustainability assessments indicated that replacing metakaolin with RHA resulted in reduced CO2 emissions and embodied energy, contributing to the enhanced eco-efficiency of the composites. This improvement was particularly notable in terms of increased compressive strength and toughness.
Traditionally, the governance of outer space and the regulation of space activities have been State-centred. During the last decade, however, global space governance has been characterized by the influx of private space actors with the capacity to influence the political decision-making and regulatory scenes. This has led to laws and policies that seek to transform the status of outer space from one beyond property and sovereignty to one subject to territorial dynamics, such as through the institution of private property. Within this context, this article investigates the production of authority in modern global space governance and presents the power of private space actors at the root of such authority. At a second level and recognizing the importance of all space actors, including private actors, the article argues for the establishment of a pluralistic legal order for space activities, harmonizing the traditionally State-centred space law framework with the modern needs of the space industry that bring private actors to the fore. The article suggests the Moon Agreement as a tool for inspiration towards the construction of such a framework.
Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence
This paper discusses the use of fly ash in concrete construction industry. Fly ash is incorporated as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete in partial replacement of cement, and is recently used as a geopolymer cement in the development of geopolymer concrete (GPC) mixes. Class C and Class F fly ash high aluminosilicate content, and fine granular size contributes to concrete improved workability, lower permeability, and reduced heat of cement hydration. Due to its chemical properties, the use of fly ash in producing OPC and GPC results in increased compressive strength, higher tensile strength evaluated by measuring hardened concrete modulus of rupture (MOR), and higher modulus of elasticity (MOE). The fine size of fly ash particles increases the concrete mix packing order, and reduce the ingress of moisture, and mitigates the impact of aggressive environmental attacks through the reduction of sulfates and chlorides rate of concrete penetration. Thus, fly ash improves concrete resistivity to alkali-aggregate reactions (AAR), and reduces the corrosion of reinforcing steel, and prestressing strands. Fly ash as an economic byproduct of coal industry results in reduced material cost, increased durability, and a higher sustainability of concrete construction projects.
Promoting prefabricated steel structures is considered one of the crucial approaches to meeting the objectives of “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” in the construction industry. Due to insufficient practical experience and incomplete fine engineering techniques in civil construction, the sustainable development of prefabricated building systems in China faces many challenges. Taking steel components as an example, the design process of tubular columns does not pay enough attention to the influence of the cold-working effect on material mechanical properties, and the constitutive relationship of cold-formed steels is not clear, which will cause an engineering economic burden and may affect the judgment of catastrophic problems. To serve the refined design and meet the intelligent construction technology using the computer platform, a modified Menegotto-Pinto model using a continuously derivable function is proposed in the paper. The proposed model can successfully describe the complete stress-strain curve of cold-formed circular mild steels as long as the basic mechanical parameters of the parent material are determined. Taking into account the influence of the strength and thickness of the parent steel sheets, as well as the internal bending radius <i>r</i>, on the cold-rolling effect, the model can also flexibly track the elastic-plastic nonlinearity of the cold-formed materials. In addition, the research shows that the cold-rolling effect will weaken with the increase of the yield strength <i>f<sub>sy,</sub></i><sub>0</sub> of the parent steels and <i>r</i>/<i>t</i> ratio, and may disappear when <i>f<sub>sy,</sub></i><sub>0</sub> reaches 1748 MPa or the <i>r</i>/<i>t</i> ratio is approximately 60, which can be used as economic indicators during the design process.
This paper investigates the advantages of enhancing construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycling facilities to conform to circular economy (CE) models in Kazakhstan’s construction sector. The industry is experiencing significant growth due to urbanization, but it faces difficulties managing CDW, frequently resulting in landfill disposal. In response, this paper provides a cost–benefit analysis of upgrading the CDW recycling centres aligned with CE needs. Reflecting legislative changes in Kazakhstan’s Environmental Code, which prohibited CDW in landfills starting December 2020, the initiative to establish modern CDW recycling centres is gaining momentum in major cities. The primary objective is to maximize material recovery and eliminate contaminants that curtail the utilization of recycled sand and aggregate products. The analysis yields compelling results, indicating that the project has the potential to recycle up to 84 million tons of CDW over eight years, with an annual 25% capacity increase and a maximum possible 95% recycling efficiency. Despite an estimated cost of USD 48 million, the project demonstrates a payback period of 9.9 years, signalling eventual cost recovery. These findings underscore the project’s capacity to mitigate CDW issues while generating economic benefits and contributing to a sustainable environment. In conclusion, implementing modern CDW recycling centres in Kazakhstan represents a potent solution for the construction industry as it transitions toward a CE model. This transition addresses both pressing environmental challenges and promising economic prospects.
The article considers the development of technical terminology in the Latvian language until the proclamation of the independent state of Latvia in 1918. The activists of the National Awakening became the first creators of technical terminology, describing current technical innovations as, for example, Juris Alunāns (1832–1864) did in 1860 for the telegraph. The need for technical terms became apparent after the Second Baltic Agricultural Exhibition when difficulties arose in describing the showcased exhibits in Latvian. Significant steps in the development of terminology were made on the initiative of student Mikus Skruzītis (also Skruzīšu Mikus; 1861–1905), who suggested collecting frequently used names of parts of various simple devices, and the initiative of Nikolajs Puriņš (also Puriņu Klāvs; 1858–1935) to publish self-education materials in construction («Būvskola» or Building School) and mechanical engineering («Mašīnu būvskola» or Machine Building School). As the proportion of Latvians employed in the industry and the number of persons who received technical education increased, the need to establish organizations that would take care of both technical education in Latvian and the coinage of the necessary terms became more apparent. The Baltic Technical Society (1906) and the Latvian Educational Society (1908), which established their own terminology committees, deserve special recognition. Encyclopaedic dictionaries were also important for the systematization of terminology, especially the conversational dictionary published by the Knowledge Committee of Riga Latvian Society (1903–1921). The research was carried out within the project «Mūsdienu latviešu valodas lietojums un attīstība» (Research on Modern Latvian Language and Development) of the National Research Program of the Latvian Council of Science (No. VPP-LETONIKA-2022/1-0001).
History (General), Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Mary Ellen Kimaro, Simon Chiutsi, Jona Heita
et al.
Destination resilience is emerging as an important concept in the tourism management literature. This is because of the recognition that tourism needs strategies to cope with future shocks. The tourism disruptions caused by the
outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the frequent occurrence of climatic disasters globally have made this need more apparent. Against this background, this study sought to analyse the enablers and barriers to tourism destination resilience in a post-Covid-19 Namibia. Data were collected in 2022 in the Erongo Region, which is one of Namibia’s key tourism destinations, and it was also a major Covid-19 pandemic hotspot. A stratified cluster random sampling approach was used to collect data from towns that were grouped into three tourism strata:
Tourism accommodation, tour operators, and tourism-related characteristic industry. The study identified several key enablers for resilience. At the individual level, these enablers include intelligence and academic ability, social
competence, and self-efficacy. For enterprise resilience, the study findings underscored the importance of having management and staff that are imbued with self-determination to adapt, and the skills to deal with future changes,
as well as the ability to collaborate. In terms of community resilience, the important enabling factors were the level of infrastructure construction, access to resources, and the presence of innovative tourism marketing and local people’s traditional environmental knowledge. The major barriers to destination resilience were, namely, unprofessional customer service, lack of security infrastructure, insufficient investment in the sector, high tax on tourism products and lack of proper amenities. Given these findings, this paper contributes to the nascent literature on tourism disaster and crisis management in Namibia. It also draws research attention to the importance of small tourism and hospitality businesses as a pathway to foster more resilient businesses in the face of possible future shocks. The study recommends the establishment of appropriate tourism policies that are pivotal to building destination resilience, building capacity to plan and anticipate future changes and investing in durable infrastructure that can withstand economic disruptions and climate-induced shocks.
Hospitality industry. Hotels, clubs, restaurants, etc. Food service, Business
The rationale is provided that to ensure investment attractiveness of land and implement capital investments, it is necessary to conduct a systematic analysis of the current state of land use, taking into account the consequences of the war and priorities for recovery. A review of publications containing research results on the issues of investment attractiveness of land, including agricultural land, has been conducted.
The structure of land, water resources, and the agro-industrial complex of the Chornobaivka territorial community in the Zolotonosha district of the Cherkasy region has been analyzed. The structure of the soil cover of the territorial community is provided. Factors influencing the investment attractiveness of the research object have been systematized. These factors include investment objects, geographical location, natural resources, business infrastructure, community budget, land use regulation, and the profitability of agricultural production. To assess the investment attractiveness of land resources, financial analysis, risk analysis, strategic approach, comparative analysis, scenario analysis, ecological and social approach have been applied. Emphasizing that the intensity, duration, and prevalence of armed conflicts, as negative factors, can differently impact the investment attractiveness of an administrative-territorial unit. Considering the proposed approaches to assessing the investment attractiveness of land resources, the following forecasted changes have been taken into account, such as attracting investments, economic development, infrastructure improvement, increased tax revenues, and the impact of armed conflicts. In aggregate, this has allowed determining the level of investment attractiveness of the researched territory.
Key words: investments, investment attractiveness, land investments, impact of armed conflicts, agricultural lands, industrial sectors, agricultural enterprises, industry structure, territorial communities, land use, rational land use, anthropogenic load, rural areas, green construction, balanced development, rural territorie.
Abstract Buffer zones help protect historical heritage sites’ integrity, authenticity, and sustainability, and thus are an essential measure for protecting such sites. Traditional buffer zone delineation considers mainly the urban texture, a rigid boundary, visual corridor construction, and other factors. A more direct approach is designating a rated outer periphery that includes historic properties as a buffer zone. However, boundaries determined by single-value orientation tend to omit protected objects. A buffer zone formed by boundary translation and enclosure will include many low-value areas in the protection scope, thereby wasting resources and affecting historic towns’ natural development, resulting in a severe contradiction between humanity and the earth. This paper proposes a new method for delimiting buffer zones. The method arises from the field that covers the value assessment of cultural heritage and from the principles of comprehensive protection, which combine cultural heritage’s tangible and intangible properties. We used 29 historical preservation plans as samples to obtain statistics on their protection content, selected natural and agriculture landscapes, architectural features, construction quality, number of stories in a building, building age, protection class, street pattern, historical elements, urban texture, cultural industry, and cultural elements according to the frequency of occurrence as the primary factors affecting a buffer zone’s boundary demarcation. These factors were weighed and evaluated by the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) to create a comprehensive evaluation map for helping determine a buffer zone’s boundary. Using such method, we identified the value of historical heritage through employing the quantitative analysis method of MCDM. We also used the evaluation result to determine the buffer zone boundary objectively. This approach rectifies the problems found in previous studies, namely an incomplete accounting of all relevant factors and a lack of data; it also provides a definition of an historical heritage buffer zone.
Reinforced concrete (RC) is used as the primary structural material in almost all construction projects worldwide, from infrastructure to building projects. Since formwork is an essential part of RC construction supply chain, it has a significant impact on the project performance. In the industrial formwork systems supply chain, the roles and responsibilities of the main stakeholders (e.g., engineer, contractor, formwork fabricator) at various phases of the project can be represented by different supply chain configurations (SCCs). The objectives of this study are to identify different SCCs for industrial formwork systems in the Turkish RC construction industry and to analyze the identified SCCs using value stream mapping (VSM) method, which is an effective and major lean tool for identifying and eliminating waste. For this purpose, first, three SCCs for industrial formwork systems have been identified, which are predominantly used in Turkey. Then, these configurations were analyzed through VSM method on an ongoing building project where 500 m2 of industrial wall formwork would be used as a real-life case study. The analysis results indicated that the SCC with the early involvement of the formwork fabricator (FWF) had higher performance than other SCCs, which is consistent with a lean construction approach.
3D concrete printing (3DCP) promises progress in the automation of the construction industry. The complexity and high quality requirements of 3DCP require automatic and digital control processes and systems that can continuously assess quality at any time and any place. In this paper, the relationship between the surface moisture of concrete and the degree of linear polarization (DolP) of light reflected from the concrete surface is investigated, which could serve as a basis for a camera-based control system. To proof this correlation, extensive practical investigations were carried out in which a mold-cast concrete specimen was illuminated with a white LED spotlight. The reflected light was recorded with a polarization camera, and the weight of the specimen served as a reference for the surface moisture. 14 experimental tests showed a high correlation between mass loss and DolP with a mean correlation coefficient of 0.994 in the last 60 minutes of the 180-minute observation period. The time series show an increasing DolP at the beginning of the observation period, which is probably due to the concrete bleeding and does not correlate with the mass loss. Further investigation into the factors influencing the DolP in the first part of the observation period needs to be carried out, either by testing influencing factors such as concrete bleeding or by finding a reliable method to measure surface moisture to correlate it with the DolP over the entire observation period. Nevertheless, the concept and methodology of data processing has been developed and prototyped, and a correlation has been demonstrated, that can provide a basis for the development of an operational camera-based concrete moisture monitoring system.
Abstract Owing to climate change, torrential rains and typhoons have become more frequent. However, to cope with this threat, conventional flood management suffers from limitations and difficulties because of the practice of uniform flood prevention measures being applied to all stream sections according to river grade classification. A wide array of measures should be considered to differentiate flood protection targets: adaptive flood management strategy is one such effort. One obstacle, however, to introducing such a measure is lack of clarity over how to divide quantitatively the degree of risk from flooding. In this study, we undertook quantitative risk assessment to determine the risk level in a riparian zone. We compared our results with statistically derived societal risk limits to determine whether the risk level was acceptable within the framework of the tolerance risk limit. We found that the flood risk could be reduced through adaptive flood management.
River protective works. Regulation. Flood control, Disasters and engineering
China’s urban housing demand has directly influenced urbanization development. To stabilize the level of urbanization, it is urgent to optimize the whole life-cycle efficiency of construction and the preliminary design as the first step is even more significant. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is widely used as information technology in the construction industry to promote the implementation and management of projects. However, the traditional preliminary design approach still occupies the mainstream market without forming a systematic BIM workflow, which causes inefficiency. To address this issue, this research aims to construct a BIM-assisted workflow to enhance the preliminary design efficiency of architecture. This study creates traditional and BIM-assisted workflows for comparative analysis to capture duration data with a questionnaire and validate by practical simulation. The findings show that the BIM-assisted workflow consumes less time than the traditional workflow. This research indicates that the BIM-assisted workflow can significantly reduce operation time to enhance preliminary design efficiency and deserves to be strongly promoted in the Chinese Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry.
This study analyzes construction productivity based on the construction duration per floor and per gross area over 20 years (1996–2015) and compares the results among the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan, which have similar sizes of total construction investment and market risk. Although construction labor productivity is widely used to analyze and compare construction productivity among countries, it does not consider the changed construction duration caused by levels of investment and technology. Therefore, construction duration per floor and gross area was selected analyze and compare construction productivity in this paper. Regular and non-modular buildings with a total of five or more floors and a basement are collected during the analysis period (1996–2015). The total number of collected buildings is 800 and it includes buildings in the United States (194), the United Kingdom (186), South Korea (322) and Japan (98). Construction duration, increase rate and standard deviation are then compared between each country. Finally, factors that influence construction duration are derived and additionally considered to explain and adjust the trends and changes of construction productivity related to construction duration in the four countries. The productivity of the United States is the highest, but the difference between it and other countries decreases steadily because the increase rate of the construction duration in the United stated is larger than those of other countries. Then, the factors influencing the construction duration are derived as a learning effect by the number of ground floors and gross area, as well as the rate of constructed buildings with a first basement floor for efficient productivity management. The rate of the first basement floor influences both the construction duration per floor and per gross area. This study contributes to the field by explaining the productivity change based on the construction duration and proposing the key management point of the productivity by deriving the influence factors.
Zahari Mahad Musa, Mohd Farid Ravi Abdullah, Abur Hamdi Usman
et al.
The dwelling house is part of the basic needs of human life. In Islam, the designation of a place as a dwelling house has its importance. The dwelling house is not only seen as a sanctuary for oneself and his property, but it is also significant in providing space for privacy. This paper aims to discuss privacy related to a dwelling house in Islamic jurisprudence. The discussion will focus on the importance of the privacy rules for a dwelling house to guide the parties involved in housing development. The type of research is qualitative with a socio-historical approach. The results indicate that Islam provides a balance between social life and the need to be alone. The principles of privacy for a dwelling house not only show the security of shariah objectives, but they also guide the construction industry with divine guidance in sustainable human development.