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The construction of new transportation infrastructure tends to affect the adjoining properties, economy and environment. In particular, studies have investigated the change in the value of properties due to increased access to transportation facilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the recently completed light rail on residential property values in Sydney, Australia.

Sales data of residential properties was extracted from the CoreLogic’s RP database. The hedonic pricing model was used to assess the effect of proximity to the light rail stops. Two models were developed for the announcement and construction phases of the light rail project.

It was found that during the announcement phase, properties located within the 400 m radius from the station were 3.3% more expensive than those within the 400–800 radius. At the construction stage, the properties within the 0–400 m radius from the stops sold at 3.1% more than those within the 400–800 m radius. This study concludes that a positive relationship exists between the values of residential property and proximity to light rail stations.

These findings would be useful for policymakers to develop land value capture programs for infrastructure funding and to real estate professionals and investors for investment in future transit-oriented development.

Previous studies that aimed at examining the impact of light rails on residential properties values around universities are limited. Hence, this study provides a broad perspective on the impact of light rail on residential properties values.

Booms and bubbles are inevitable in the real estate industry. Loss of profits, bankruptcy and economic slowdown are indicators of the adverse effects of fluctuations in property prices. Models providing a reliable forecast of property prices are vital for mitigating the effects of these variations. Hence, this study aims to investigate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the prediction of property price index (PPI).

Information on the variables that influence property prices was collected from reliable sources in Hong Kong. The data were fitted to an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM) models. Subsequently, the developed models were used to generate out-of-sample predictions of property prices.

Based on the prediction evaluation metrics, it was revealed that the ANN model outperformed the SVM and ARIMA models. It was also found that interest rate, unemployment rate and household size are the three most significant variables that could influence the prices of properties in the study area.

The findings of this study provide useful information to stakeholders for policy formation and strategies for real estate investments and sustained growth of the property market.

The application of the SVM model in the prediction of PPI in the study area is lacking. This study evaluates its performance in relation to ANN and ARIMA.

The current study seeks to investigate and determine the principal barriers to the adoption of work–life balance (WLB) practices amongst construction companies operating in the developing countries using Lagos, Nigeria as a case study.

This study adopts a survey research technique. Snowball sampling technique was adopted to identify the target respondents for the administration of questionnaire. A total of 156 questionnaires were distributed and a response rate of 66% (103 questionnaires were completely filled and returned) was attained. Data elicited were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results from the exploratory factors analysis show that the principal barriers to the adoption of WLB practices amongst construction companies in Lagos, Nigeria are categorised into four components: nature of construction job and limited evidence on impact of WLB, support, awareness and culture, lack of involvement of management staff and organisational factors.

This study contributed to more effective WLB studies by highlighting the barriers to the adoption of WLB practices in the construction sector. An understanding of these barriers can aid policy makers and management personnel in construction organisations as well as facilitate development of strategies required to reduce the barriers to WLB practices in the construction sector.

Improving buildability of building designs with the aid of buildability assessment is essential because of the effect of designs on construction. Despite the plethora of research into buildability reported over the years, a review of the literature shown a dearth of research into the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment. Because buildability assessment has been confirmed to be highly beneficial to construction business, this study aims to investigate the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment as a tool for buildability improvement using Nigeria as a representative case.

Survey research method was adopted for the study. Questionnaires were administered to a purposively selected group of architects, engineers, builders and quantity surveyors involved in construction project delivery within client, consulting and contracting organisations in Nigeria. A total of 368 questionnaires were distributed among the sampled participants, out of which, a total of 219 representing 60% were sufficiently filled and returned. Data collected were analysed using inferential and descriptive statistics.

The results revealed owner’s commitment, clients’ awareness of the benefits of conducting buildability assessment on building design, unity amongst different professionals in the construction industry, designers consider buildability important, adequate coordination amongst different design disciplines, adequate channel for co-ordination and communication between designers and constructors at the design stage and adequate support from the government as the top most seven factors supporting buildability assessment implementation in construction sector of Nigeria. Secondly, the results from the research revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in factors supporting buildability assessment implementation in construction between clients and consulting and contracting construction organisations in Nigeria.

The findings provide in-depth insight of the factors supporting the implementation of buildability assessment in construction that can help principal stakeholders in construction to facilitate development of strategies required in supporting the adoption and implementation of buildability assessment tool for buildability improvement.

Construction management researchers have acknowledged that the use of buildability could improve outcomes of project. Efficient use of resources required for the procurement of construction projects is important for the economy. This study aims to aggregate the current knowledge on buildability within the construction management domain into an understandable whole using the systematic review approach.

An interpretivist epistemological approach was used as a lens for the systematic review of published research on buildability. The selected articles cover the time period between 1987 and 2020. The articles published in 2021 and 2022 were excluded to ensure that the scope of the current study is distinct and clear. In this research, qualitative content analysis was used to scrutinise the selected journal papers.

Based on the analysis of literature, the trends and gaps in the current knowledge on the topic of interest were identified. It was found that stakeholder’s knowledge and commitment play a huge role in the extent of adoption of buildability as a practice in the construction sector. Also, the study confirms that the use of buildability is beneficial to the project and its stakeholders.

The study maps the current state of knowledge on buildability and provides information on the gaps that could be explored in the future by researchers.

The use of recycled concrete (RC) can reduce the greenhouse emissions associated with the production of cement, which is one of the primary materials used for the execution of construction projects. This research aims to review the state of knowledge in the field of RC research. An understanding of the state of the art in the RC domain justifies future research in this field.

A systematic and comprehensive search of RC-related literature was conducted using the Scopus database. In this research, the bibliometrix R-package was used for the analysis of bibliometric information of the selected papers. The software was used to create a map, which highlights the trends and gaps in the RC knowledge domain.

The results reveal the research themes, clusters, collaboration networks and advancement of knowledge in the field of RC research. The study integrates the literature focussed on RC research and provides a platform for progression of knowledge in this field.

The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge by providing an up-to-date RC knowledge map based on an analysis of bibliographic data. Information gleaned from previous studies suggests that bibliometric review can strengthen and complement the findings emerging from other forms of literature reviews. The study reported here is one of the first studies to provide insights into the evolution of RC research.

Estimation of the rental price of a residential property is important to real estate investors, financial institutions, buyers and the government. These estimates provide information for assessing the economic viability and the tax accruable, respectively. The purpose of this study is to develop a neural network model for estimating the rental prices of residential properties in Cape Town, South Africa.

Data were collected on 14 property attributes and the rental prices were collected from relevant sources. The neural network algorithm was used for model estimation and validation. The data relating to 286 residential properties were collected in 2018.

The results show that the predictive accuracy of the developed neural network model is 78.95 per cent. Based on the sensitivity analysis of the model, it was revealed that balcony and floor area have the most significant impact on the rental price of residential properties. However, parking type and swimming pool had the least impact on rental price. Also, the availability of garden and proximity of police station had a low impact on rental price when compared to balcony.

In the light of these results, the developed neural network model could be used to estimate rental price for taxation. Also, the significant variables identified need to be included in the designs of new residential homes and this would ensure optimal returns to the investors.

A number of studies have shown that crime influences the value of residential properties. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is limited research investigating this relationship within the South African context.

The construction industry in Nigeria has a complex environment, comprising several combinations of consulting professions, clients, contractual arrangement and investors, with longer working hours than other industries. Work–life balance (WLB) strategies are used to balance professional life and personal life. This study aims to assess the extent of implementation of WLB strategies among construction companies in Lagos, Nigeria.

This study adopts a survey research technique. Snowball sampling technique was adopted to identify the targeted respondents for the administration of questionnaire. A total of 156 questionnaires were distributed and a response rate of 66% (103 questionnaires were completely filled and returned) was attained. Data elicited were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results from this study provides evidence that the level of implementation of WLB strategies among construction companies in Lagos state, Nigeria is on the average. The results also revealed organisational understanding, paternity/maternity leave and flexible working arrangement as the top most three WLB strategies implemented among the construction companies in Lagos, Nigeria.

This study contributed to more effective WLB studies by identifying new information on the extent of usage of WLB practices in the Nigerian construction sector as well as offers a fresh perspective on the usage of WLB in a developing country. An understanding of these strategies is significant for companies’ stakeholders, such as management personnel, top construction professionals and policymakers, and for facilitating the adoption and implementation of WLB strategies among construction organisations.

The awareness and practice of buildability is still at its infancy stage in the construction sector of developing countries. Information gleaned from literature shows that embedding buildability into practice is beneficial to construction projects. This study seeks to examine the buildability attributes that are important for improving the practice of construction management.

A questionnaire was developed to address the aim of the study. Data were collected through the administration of questionnaires to purposively selected group of architects, engineers, builders and quantity surveyors. A total of 368 questionnaires were administered and a response rate of 60% (219 questionnaires were returned) was achieved. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the data.

The results revealed that discussion centred on buildable designs among builders and designers as the most critical attribute of buildability for improving the practice of construction management in the Nigerian construction industry. The finding also revealed that, there is a statistically significant agreement between different groups of construction organisations in Lagos state, Nigeria concerning buildability attributes for improving the practice of construction management.

This study highlights the buildability attributes which are important for improving the practice of construction management. An understanding of these attributes is essential for improving and embedding buildability as a practice in the construction industry.

Communication plays an important role in the quality of the relationship, trust and collaboration among construction project teams. Literature suggests that effective communication is vital for achieving improved project performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the barriers to effective communication in the Nigerian construction industry, using attribution theory paradigm.

Questionnaires detailing 15 barriers to effective communication were administered to consultants and contractors engaged in the Nigerian construction sector. In total, 100 valid responses were analysed using mean score, factor analysis and factor score.

Unclear project objectives, ineffective reporting systems and poor leadership were ranked as the most significant barriers to effective communication. Factor analysis uncovered that the principal reasons responsible for ineffective communication include: managerial and technical barriers and credibility and background barriers.

The results provide information on barriers which needs to be addressed in order to improve communication in construction projects in Nigeria. There is a need to conduct post-completion reviews of construction projects so that project team members can learn and share knowledge on past experiences. Although the present study was conducted in the Nigerian context, it is envisaged that the research outcome will be widely applicable to other developing countries.

The study provides insights on the perceived barriers to effective communication in Nigerian construction projects. The paper presents the direction for further research aimed at improving communication in construction projects in Nigeria.