The paper explores building collapses at the cross-cutting edges of urban sustainability and the socio-economic and political–cultural influences of vulnerability for the phenomenon – in departure from the traditional conceptualisation of the phenomenon as an ‘engineering’ problem. It confers insights into the influences of vulnerability for building collapse in the urban context and makes a case for

Delimiting urban areas is crucial for planning and managing cities. In Portugal, urban limits are exclusively decided at the municipal level according to the strategic vision of each municipality. Consequently, urban delimitation is a significantly changeable process. This paper presents a methodology to fill this gap aiming at delimiting urban areas based on objective and quantitative spatial data

Urbanisation modifies the natural hydrological cycle and aggravates floods. If the limits imposed by the natural environment are respected in the urban planning process, it is expected that the city resulting from this process will be able to coexist with floods, suffering minor damages. In this context, this work uses the concept of low-impact development (LID) to ‘go back in time’, with the aid of

Buried utilities (e.g. gas, water, electricity, drainage), many installed decades ago, are vital urban support systems. Their locations are often not well documented, yet accurate location greatly helps replacement, rehabilitation and maintenance of existing services and is crucial for installation of new utilities: it minimises utility strikes / third party damage and the huge associated costs of

Waste mud processing is an urgent problem in in situ construction with no existing method of address. Identifying a highly effective, low-energy and environmentally friendly treatment method would hold great significance. This paper introduces a fast, economic and environmentally friendly construction technology centred on the in situ solidification process. After solidification, bearing capacity and

Pedestrian facilities: geometric design for safety and mobility – second edition

Construction is one of the most hazardous and complex industries worldwide, which may result in the most fatal accidents and occupational illnesses. It is also regarded as a major industry not only in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries but also worldwide and it is rapidly growing. This study reports an assessment of different body parameters, including physiological factors and body pain of construction

Differential settlement of footings of reinforced-concrete buildings is expected to have a considerable effect on design forces in various structural components depending on the characteristics of the soil. The differential settlement combined with the soil–structure interaction (SSI) effect during earthquakes may be a significant factor in deciding the structural response especially for structures

One of the most common problems in construction projects is delay. Delays lead to loss of time and an increase in cost, which causes great damage to firms and the economies of countries. In previous studies, many researchers have attempted to identify the factors causing the delay by carrying out questionnaire surveys and interviews. However, there are very few studies that have compared the data obtained

The leachate released from dumpsites can cause severe contamination of land and water. By studying seasonal variations of leachate characteristics generated from three active landfill sites of Delhi (India), it was found that seasonal variations can significantly affect the composition of leachate. Various parameters, such as conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

In recent years, a large number of metro systems have been built in Chinese cities, this is especially true in Shanghai. As an emerging information management technology, building information modelling (BIM) has been introduced in the metro projects. However, very few data models of the completed metro projects conform to a uniform BIM standard. In fact, the existing deliverable models of different

This briefing paper presents the modular integrated construction (MiC) approach drawing on the literature, the theories of modularisation and production and pioneering practices. MiC is a game-changing approach introduced in Hong Kong focusing on high-density, high-rise building construction, to transform fragmented site-based construction into integrated value-driven production with the opportunity

Is there such a thing as an urban direction to infrastructure innovation in today's rapidly expanding cities? City growth has driven evolution of urban infrastructure through a combination of technological, political and commercial innovations to produce today's top-down, centralised models; however, these now stand in the way of the innovation necessary to accommodate the city growth anticipated in

Infrastructure reconstruction and development facilitates the transition of post-conflict economies to socio-economic stability and financial normalcy. The current system of measuring success is output-based and not a reliable indicator of outcome. Furthermore, standardised output metrics are easily and often abused. However, the outcome of any infrastructure project is by definition retrospective

The disposal of plastic waste is a great dilemma in present times due to its non-biodegradable nature and the scarcity and unsustainability of landfills. Studies reveal that it can be successfully utilised in bituminous concrete (BC) mixes in flexible pavements. There are two methods available, namely, dry method (DM) and wet method (WM) that incorporate plastic wastes in the BC mixes. In this study

This paper presents the project management of a transnational workshop in urban engineering, held as education and training for students from Brazil (UFRJ – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá State University) and France (UTC – Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Compiègne University of Technology, Sorbonne University)

This research study was conducted to assess the potential of a fuzzy logic approach for flood hazard (FH) modelling in five suburban basins in Hamadan city, Iran. The soil conservation service (SCS) method in the Hydrologic engineering center-hydrologic modelling system (HEC-HMS) model was used to assess the accuracy of this method. The results revealed that the two employed methods had almost the