ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9333-6459
Current Organisation
The University of Newcastle
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Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-06-2023
DOI: 10.1108/BEPAM-10-2022-0154
Abstract: This research investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on construction enterprises and good practices adopted by the enterprises in reducing COVID-19 risks. The Sendai Framework (TSF) is widely accepted as a strategic roadmap to reduce disaster risks throughout the life cycle of a disaster. As such, with the aim of enhancing the resilience of Australian construction enterprises, the identified good practices were mapped with TSF priorities to consolidate COVID-19 risk reduction practices that can be adopted by Australian construction enterprises. Case study research approach was used, and three case studies were conducted with small, medium and large construction enterprises. Small, medium and large enterprises were selected based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics classification of the business size. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with three executive members from the three enterprises. Data were analysed using content analysis. The study found that construction enterprises faced demand and supply side impacts. Infrastructure projects, funded by public sector clients and larger enterprises were least affected. Investments and demand for residential and other building projects were reduced by private sector clients, affecting small and medium enterprises. Findings also show that the construction enterprises adopted good practices in identifying, managing, investing on resilience and recovery that align with TSF priorities. All three enterprises agreed on some common good practices on risk identification, risk management and effective recovery. Different views were shared on investments related to disaster resilience. This study contributes to mitigate the COVID-19 impacts on construction enterprises and subsequent economic and social impacts. This research found how Australian construction enterprises survived during COVID-19. The study adopted TSF to construction and COVID-19 context while consolidating COVID-19 risk reduction practices.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-11-2022
DOI: 10.3390/SU142214745
Abstract: Megaproject-induced displacement of populations will now occur more frequently due to massive infrastructure investment in the post-COVID-19 era. The participatory process for megaprojects starts with those in the vicinity local communities who are directly involved. However, few studies have attempted to map the global knowledge of local community participation in the planning stage of megaprojects. A systematic literature review of public participation in the context of megaproject-induced displacement was conducted to determine these features, and to provide local community insights which are useful for managing social issues around megaprojects and the effects of participation. A total of 32 journal publications were analyzed from the Web of Science (WoS) database, drawing from an initial group of 456 based on citations from 2012 to 2022 to identify the evolution of knowledge trends. It was found that the nonfulfillment participatory process always fails to recognize groups of residents and assess the impacts of megaproject-induced displacement caused to local communities. This lack of recognition at the governmental level contributes to conflict placing the local community at risk of uncertain megaproject environments. Broader public participation involves local communities, who be harmed by the development strategies of megaprojects, catalyzing their willingness to participate and encourage greater inclusiveness in their interactions, as well as balancing the megaproject’s economic, ecologic, and social interests. The study results demonstrate a consensus was reached, and the effects of megaproject-induced displacement can be mediated.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-01-2021
DOI: 10.3390/WORLD2010004
Abstract: The walkability of urban areas is an important criterion related to the level of physical activity and public health of citizens. This research aims to measure this parameter in Golsar town located in Rasht, Iran. Two methods were used in this research: Street connectivity and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The principal variables of street connectivity were measured in four districts of Golsar by Geographic Information System (GIS) to rank each one. Then, the acquired results were compared by the average walking time of the respondents of the questionnaire. The comparison explicitly indicated that there is a strong positive correlation between the measures of street connectivity and people’s tendency to walk. As well, District 1 had the highest value of connectivity and the highest average time for walking amongst the four districts. This supports the contention that walkability and the level of outdoor physical activities of people in each district are undoubtedly under the influence of the variables of street connectivity. Nevertheless, the evaluation of other indexes such as proximity, land use mix, safety, and density in Golsar, in future research. can expand our perception of the walkability of this region.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-03-2023
DOI: 10.3390/SU15065565
Abstract: The realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires local governments globally to integrate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their policy and practice. In the case of the Hunter Valley Region of Australia, a key sustainable development issue is climate change-induced flooding. The localization and mainstreaming of SDG 13 on climate action can support tangible municipal climate actions in the Region. However, while it is acknowledged that SDG localization is needed to address sustainable development challenges, there is a gap in research and practice to guide local government attempts at SDG localization. This research analyzes literature on SDG localization to understand strategies, challenges and gaps that can inform localization approaches for the Hunter Valley. An analysis of the literature revealed that the implementation of SDG 13 at the local government level is a sparsely researched area, and in practice, efforts to implement SDG 13 have not been publicly communicated. Research-based recommendations for SDG 13 localization are presented to highlight the potential of integrating SDGs into pre-existing local policy so that the SDGs and their targets can support climate action and decrease disaster risk of future floods in Hunter Valley communities.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 28-09-2021
DOI: 10.3390/SU131910759
Abstract: The aged population all over the world is predicted to increase over the next couple of years. Especially in China, the ageing population is expanding significantly every year. A ‘Home-care model’ is becoming the first choice for many elders in China due to the traditional style of community and economic considerations. However, existing communities generally lack supporting facilities for their elders. This can result in hidden safety risks in these communities. Consequently, retrofit projects among these communities of elders have attracted attention and generated studies in both academia and industry. Such elderly community retrofit projects (ECRPs) involve multiple stakeholders, and therefore, the establishment of an effective synergy mechanism for all stakeholders would provide significant value for the successful implementation of ECRPs. Until now, no such mechanism has been developed and published. This research aims to develop a stakeholder collaboration mechanism (SCM) for ECRPs in China. As the method of data collection, interviews with relevant ECRP stakeholders were conducted. Stakeholders involved with ECRPs were classified into three main categories—namely, core stakeholders (ageing families, government organisations, and ECRP companies), dormant stakeholders (other residents, other investors community committees), and marginal stakeholders (financial institutions, property service enterprises, and public welfare organisations). Finally, the SCM was developed utilising a power–interest matrix. Actions for stakeholders were recommended in order to promote ECRP in China.
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 29-05-2023
Abstract: onstruction and nursing are critical industries within New South Wales and Australia. Though both careers involve physically and mentally demanding work, the risks to workers during the pandemic are not well understood. In prior work, we have shown that nurses (both younger and older) were more likely to suffer the ill effects of burnout and stress than construction workers. This seems likely linked to accelerated work demands and increased pressure on nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we subjected a large social media dataset to a series of advanced natural language processing techniques in order to explore indicators of mental status across industries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. his social media analysis fills an important knowledge gap by comparing the social media posts of younger and older construction workers and nurses in order to obtain an insight into any potential risks to their mental health due to work health and safety issues. e analysed 1,505,638 tweets published on Twitter by younger and older ( vs. years of age) construction workers and nurses. The study period spanned 54 months, from January 2018 to June 2022, which equates to approximately 27 months before and 27 months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. The tweets were analysed using big data analytics and computational linguistic analyses. ext analyses revealed that nurses made greater use of hashtags and keywords (both monograms and bigrams) associated with burnout, health issues, and mental health compared to construction workers. COVID also had a huge effect on nurses, and this was especially pronounced for younger nurses. LIWC analyses showed that posts about health and wellbeing contained more first-person singular pronouns and affect words, and health-related tweets contained more affect words. Sentiment analyses revealed that, overall, nurses had a higher proportion of positive sentiment in their tweets than construction workers. However, this changed markedly in early 2020 as the positive and negative sentiment crossed over in the months leading up to the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Since that time, negative sentiment dominated the tweets of nurses. No such crossover was observed in construction. he social media analysis revealed that younger nurses had language use patterns consistent with someone suffering the ill effects of burnout and stress. Older construction workers had more negative sentiment than young workers, who were more focused on communicating about social and recreational activities rather than work matters.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 09-02-2021
DOI: 10.1108/BEPAM-04-2020-0082
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and measure stakeholder engagement and interorganisational relationships involved in the project design process. A mixed-methods design, which combined action study, focus group meetings and a survey with project stakeholders who were employees in this project to express their comments on current design processes in different sub-projects. The transformation of the design process in the selected project can be categorised into three distinct areas: (1) people, (2) practices and (3) internal infrastructure. These three categories were a straightforward way to review, analyse and discuss this transformation. The findings revealed the major goals of the improvement process as summarised are reliability, efficiency and quality. Recommendations and future study directions were suggested by the end of the paper. Although the project selected in this research was limited to Australia, the results could be interpreted on the design process in many other construction projects with similar size all over the world. This research was very practical, with all data collected from the project in Australia. It summarised the difficulties met in the project and provided methods for stakeholders and industry practitioners to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the design process. This research provided lessons learnt on the design process from a “Giga” project and provided sustainable methods to facilitate future projects into flexible and effective communication among stakeholders.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-12-2021
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-09-2022
DOI: 10.3390/WORLD3030038
Abstract: Australia’s construction industry throughout the last two decades has seen an increase in the number of women pursuing careers. The percentage it has increased by between 1998 and 2020 is a disappointing 0.2% despite the research, strategies, and initiatives the Australian Government has implemented during the interval. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and support the legislative notion of required gender percentages on tendering documents and how this change could increase the number of women in public projects. A systematic literature review of scholarly sources from the database Scopus was applied to develop a thematic analysis of women in the industry. The results found four themes: underrepresentation, barriers to career, education pathways, and opportunities for employment. These themes reinforced the need to introduce legislation such as gender requirements for public projects. Connections made were that gender legislation would increase the number of job opportunities, more jobs would encourage all levels of education to promote women in construction, more women in construction would improve their underrepresentation, and thus make women-centric problems in the workforce a more common issue and more likely to improve. The paper concludes that to see an increase in the number of women in Australia’s construction industry, the government must take enforceable legislative change. This change must start by creating legislation that requires organisations that want to tender with the government to have a minimum percentage of women in any proposed public works submission before it can be awarded.
No related grants have been discovered for Liyaning Tang.