Recent decades have seen a major social and economic changes across the developed world and consequent changes in the construction and property industries. The discipline of construction economics needs to respond to this. For instance, the importance of sustainable development has become recognised, as has the need to increasingly master the medium and long-term consequences of construction, not only in the production but also in the management of buildings across their whole life-cycle. And the new focus on the service rendered by buildings, as distinct from the buildings themselves, has prompted a new approach to the construction and property industries. Any economic analysis of these sectors has to take account of all the participants involved in the life-cycle of building structures – not only in the design and construction, but also in the operation, maintenance, refurbishment and demolition of property.
This innovative new book draws on the work of the Task Group of the CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation) on Macroeconomics for Construction. It pulls together discussions of mesoeconomic and macroeconomic models and methodologies in construction economics and presents an exciting approach to the analysis of the operation and function of the construction and property sector within the economy. Graduate students and researchers will find it an invaluable work.
The changing nature of the built environment
Defining the sector: Assessing the value of the built environment in the macroeconomy
The economics of architecture and urban design
Market dynamics between real estate, investment, development and construction
Structures investment and economic growth
The economics of maintenance
Demand versus supply side strategies - in low-income housing
Business, building and property cycles
Impacts of construction and property markets on the macroeconomy
Impacts of fiscal, monetary and regulatory policies
Market modelling and forecasting
Interrelationships of the building and property sectors
The changing nature of the built environment
Globalisation and contagion in the world economy
Theories of investment in property
Trends and cycles in property investment
Regulatory issues
Construction activity and economic development
Aggregate GDP and Construction Value-Added: Quantifying the relationship
Real estate cycles
Input-output economics in the built environment
Construction and property markets in a changing world economy
Biography
Les Ruddock is Professor of Construction and Property Economics, and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Business, Law and the Built Environment, at the University of Salford. He is the Co-ordinator of the CIB (Conseil International du Bâtiment) Task Group on Macroeconomics for Construction.