1st Edition

Economics for the Modern Built Environment

Edited By Les Ruddock Copyright 2009
    296 Pages
    by Routledge

    294 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.