Abstract
China’s architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry needs a clear and sustainable development roadmap. Drawing inspiration from speeches delivered at a seminar hosted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and extensive literature research on Chinese policies, this article presents a summary of the current trends in the AEC industry in four dimensions: industrialization as the foundation, intelligence as the enabler, lean management as the strategy, and green development as the goal. These four dimensions are intricately interconnected and rooted in multiple disciplines. The article provides a detailed review of the current practices, challenges, and future directions associated with each dimension. Additionally, ten grand challenges were proposed to stimulate discussions on the future of the AEC industry. This article offers an overarching understanding of the AEC industry and presents a four-dimension framework for sustainable development, which can be valuable for AEC practitioners.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the speakers at the seminar for their insights. This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFC3801700), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52108090 and 52078374), Chinese Academy of Engineering (No. 2022-XZ-21), Science Foundation for the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, China-Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Program (No. 22dz1207100 and 22dz1207800), and Top Discipline Plan of Shanghai Universities-Class I.
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Li, P., Lu, Y. & **ao, X. Proposing a development framework for sustainable architecture, engineering, and construction industry in China: Challenges, best practice, and future directions. Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 18, 805–814 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-024-1102-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-024-1102-2