International Journal of Real Estate Studies
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COVID-19 and Digitalization: Its Influence in the Dutch Real Estate Market Process
Full text linkCOVID-19, disruption in society and real estate - which clearly bear characteristics of this era - and the user will have an impact on real estate. Disruptive real estate organizations clearly respond to the agility and modularity of the built environment and therefore determine the right of existence of real estate organizations. This also influences the current and future financial and functional valuation of real estate. The added value of the possible applications of digitalization of real estate processes is expressed in agility, modularity, more effective and efficient transactions, increasing transparency and a better basis for investments. This will increase confidence in fundamental parts of the real estate economy. In recent months, COVID-19 has held sway over the Netherlands and almost everywhere else in the world. Although COVID-19 began making its way through Asia in January, the Netherlands and Europe were surprised by it. The intelligent lockdown, announced in the third week of 2020 and later lifted, has now become a partial lockdown again in October 2020. This has a major impact on people\u27s daily lives: how people live, how they work, how they shop and get groceries. Things like \u27place\u27 and \u27connection\u27 suddenly take on a whole new meaning. This has meant quite a lot for real estate. Considering the fact that COVID-19 will be present in many ways as long as no vaccination or effective medicine is available, COVID-19, as well as digitalization, will have considerable consequences for real estate, urban development and building production. The methodology is based on literature review of papers from the recently written collection of essays RICS Research & Innovation (Kok et al., 2020) in which the experts, based on current knowledge, research and insights, present a picture of what COVID-19 means for our real estate and urban development. In the following sections, we present a number of important insights and conclusions as well as a number of current research developments. These insights and conclusions are: (1) the Unique Object Identifier (UOI) respects existing identifiers and connects them, (2) COVID-19 can also stimulate the integration of technology in real estate, and (3) urban strategy foresees a future of networked regions
Awareness of Factors Contributing to Sustainable Construction in Nigeria
Full text linkThe need to slow down climate change and global warming has made sustainable development major issue among policy makers and world leaders. Awareness on sustainability concept among industry practitioners is crucial in influencing design, materials selection and construction methods. The aim of this study is to examine the level of awareness on key sustainability concepts and factors that influence their adoption during construction by practitioners in Nigeria. Through an online survey, 120 copies of semi-structured questionnaire were administered on built environment practitioners such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and builders working in client, contracting, consulting and academia with 77% response rate. Factorial two-way ANOVA was performed to examine if there are differences in the level of awareness of factors contributing to sustainable construction among the groupings. Also, binomial logit regression analysis was adopted in predicting the factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept among practitioners in construction industry. The study revealed that professionals from client organization recorded highest (3.8) mean score in terms of awareness on sustainability concept followed by those from academia (3.6), consulting (3.0) and contracting (2.2). In terms of factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction, findings from the study revealed that academic qualification (β =2.226, p<0.05) and type of organization (β =1.127, p<0.05) significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction. Practitioners with high academic qualification and those from client organization, exhibited high level of awareness on sustainability concept, this equally influenced their adoption of key elements of sustainability (site planning, energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy, resource conservation, material reuse, indoor environmental quality) during construction. The determination of the level of awareness and adoption of factors contributing to sustainable construction by practitioners will serve as guide to industry practitioners regarding issues to integrate into design and construction project from inception to completion. To improve awareness of sustainable practices in the industry, stakeholders should direct efforts towards organizing seminars, conferences and workshops centered on sustainable construction through the various professional bodies at state and local government levels
Precaution against Coronavirus and Housing Neighborhood Standard in Selected Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria
Full text linkHousing and neighborhood conditions can significantly affect health, safety, and well-being of citizens in a country. The current COVID-19 outbreak and its manner of transmission tests the potential resilience of nations, while revealing various economic, political, and health challenges – whereby housing being one and in fact the basis of them. The most well-planned and maintained housing environments in Nigeria are mostly populated by the rich, more-privileged, and less often the middle-income earners, while the lower-class groups of people reside in unkempt or sub-standard neighborhoods. The objectives of this study are to examine the neighborhood and housing standards in five selected areas of Lagos and to investigate the level of residents’ compliance with the physical/social distancing polices relating to the precautions against COVID-19 spread. Data were gathered through a mixed-method approach, alongside facility surveys and physical observations. A total of 161 copies of questionnaire were administered in the Fola-Agoro, Abule-Ijesha, Bariga, Abule-Oja, and Onike-Iwaya areas – all within the essential part of the city. 152 questionnaires were returned with 143 of them were found valid for generating the required analysis through the use of SPSS software. Features like road networks, drainage systems, infrastructural facilities, commercial properties, and various types of dwelling units exist across these areas. However, findings from the survey analysis indicated poor neighborhood and housing standards that manifested in lack of conducive neighborhood dwelling facilities/conditions like adequate space, proper ventilation, good security, serenity, efficient household services, and a well-planned environment, all affect residents’ operations in the areas. The overall inadequacy of basic amenities affected the residents’ level of adherence to the lockdown policy as the selected areas lacked appreciable neighborhood and housing standards. Hence, it is recommended that related and concerned authorities should provide the basic habitable conditions such as spacious neighborhood, good ventilation, serene environment, efficient neighborhood security and good road networks. This, presumably, will promote comfort among residents’ and enhance their ability to abide by the physical distancing policy towards the prevention of the pandemic spread and indeed any subsequent disease outbreaks capable of being doused by good neighborhood and housing standards
Risk Analysis on the Equipment and Material Procurement Process of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Projects
Full text linkEquipment and material non-compliance with the project requirements is one of the issues causing delay in large EPC projects as rework actions are inevitable. Detecting and controlling the potential risks at the procurement process of equipment and material can be done to anticipate this issue. This study aims to identify the major risks and recommend the response strategies to the equipment and material non-compliance by adopting a quantitative method through expert validation using Delphi method, questionnaire surveys, and risk analysis, as well as qualitative method through benchmarking study and interview with experts. The result of this study shows that lacking in the inspection of requirement, complete Request for Quotation (RFQ) information, contract term verification, fixed design requirements, attention to Purchase Order (PO) review, supervision to engineering design and drawing, and proper fabrication procedure are major risks that can potentially cause non-compliance. Improvement in communication between stakeholders and supervision to ensure the conformity with specifications are considered as the key elements in mitigating the identified major risks
COVID-19 Pandemic: The New Normal in Business Continuity Plan for Real Estate Firms in Malaysia
Full text linkCoronavirus (COVID-19) whipped in the new decade of 2020, throwing the healthcare industry and associated professionals into turmoil in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. The consequences of the pandemic affect almost all market sectors worldwide. The rapid spread of the pandemic put whole nations in lockdown mode to stop the contagion which at the same time affected numerous businesses including those in real estate sector. Combination of Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Real Estate were discussed decades ago under the Business Continuity Management (BCM) canopy but the current pandemic has opened up a so called ‘new normal’ routine for such combination. Ambiguous dynamics, especially on the flattening of the pandemic curve, have disrupted companies across the globe. Linkages inherent to business environment in respect to domestic and international supply chains have created huge impact on the continuity of its operations in particular, and its contribution to the economic development at the macro level. This paper aims to provide some thoughts on how the supply chain in Business Impact Analysis (BIA) which is one of the key factors of BCP could help real estate firms in managing daily tasks during circumstances of crisis. That apart, with BIA, it would contribute to better BCP allowing for long term sustainability of the businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged researchers to think, introduce and execute vigorous approaches on business survival, to ensure the continuity of their operations. The appropriate steps in BIA will contribute to a better BCP for most real estate firms, especially in Malaysia. Hopefully, this paper can give some insights for academicians, but more importantly as well, for business operators within the real estate sector to assist in adjusting their firms in line with the ‘new normal’ brought about by COVID-19
Impacts of Households’ Prior Experience on Current Housing Satisfaction: A Study of Selected Estates in Lagos, Nigeria
Full text linkResearchers in housing satisfaction mostly limit selection of research variables to current on-site parameters of the housing environment. Thus, variables perceived as not having explicit relationships with overall housing satisfaction are often relegated. However, users’ current satisfaction ratings are usually influenced by such relegated background variables, including user’s prior-experience in erstwhile housing environments. This paper explores the prospects of users’ housing background experience in influencing the build-up to determining current levels of satisfaction. The survey utilised structured selfadministered questionnaires on a sample of 572 households in selected estates in the study area. The retrieved 283 were edited and analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Housing relative satisfaction indices were calculated for the respective estates first from mathematical formula and then compared with mean scores. A hypothesis was tested with Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation to establish a significant relationship between Satisfaction with Prior Housing Environment (SATPRIORHSE) and current Overall Housing Relative Satisfaction (OVERALLHRSAT). A further test with one-way ANOVA confirmed the outcome of the earlier test. The study revealed positive correlation of though, low coefficient of +0.281, between SATPRIORHSE and OVEARALLHRSAT. This was significant at the 0.01 (2-tailed) level. This analysis showed a significant relationship between the respondents’ prior housing and the recorded level of housing satisfaction in the current estates. The respondents who experienced various levels of low-satisfaction with their former housing recorded higher rates of satisfaction with current housing in the estates, than those who had better prior experiences. The research underscores the relevance of ‘prior experience’ variable in assessment of current housing satisfaction levels. When rigorous financial analysis is involved, an underplay of such variable could lead to wrong conclusions, with misapplication of research outcomes accompanied by serious financial implications. The user’s prior-experience determines the housing norms on which satisfaction is premised
Compliance with the Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Construction Sites in Johor, Malaysia
Full text linkThe construction environment is one of the most dangerous workplaces where several fatal accidents have been recorded. Personal protective equipment (PPE) has therefore been used as a vital protection in ensuring the health and safety of workers on construction sites. A few findings reveal that PPE is usually not worn by construction workers in Malaysia. The purpose of this research was to investigate the awareness and compliance with PPE usage on construction sites in Johor, Malaysia. A mixed-method research approach was adopted for the study. A total of 95 questionnaires were distributed to workers on nine (9) construction sites in Johor with a response rate of 72%. The data analysis method utilised quantitative analysis using mean values, and qualitative analysis using coding of real-time observations. Both quantitative and qualitative methods reveal head, foot, body, and hand PPE as the most commonly used PPE among construction workers on sites in Johor. The findings also reveal a considerable level of awareness but a low level of compliance with the use of PPE by construction workers in Johor as only three (3) PPE out of eight (8) had a compliance level above the average mean of 2.5. Hence, approaches such as provision of safety training and penalties to workers who fail to comply with PPE usage should be implemented to enhance compliance with the use of PPE on construction sites