Constructing Futures: Industry leaders and futures thinking in construction

About the authors xi

Preface xiii

Part 1 Tracing the past 1

1 Introducing foresight in construction: exploring the missing link of personalising futures thinking 3

Chapter summary 3

Setting the ‘scene’ 4

Construction foresight studies 7

The ‘future’ agendas since the Second World War 7

Contemporary foresight reports at the turn of the century 9

Synthesis of critical trends and implications from the foresight reports 16

Critical appraisal of foresight studies 17

A note on the methodology 22

The structure of the book 24

Part 1: Tracing the past 24

Part 2: Eliciting the future 24

Part 3: Towards an afterthought 25

2 Influential people in the UK construction industry: what makes leadership in construction? 26

Chapter summary 26

Introduction 27

Leadership theories and application in construction 28

Development of leadership theories 28

Application of leadership theories in construction management research 30

Looking forward but learning from the past 30

So what makes a ‘leader’ in construction? 31

Critical antecedent: people 31

Critical antecedent: place 34

Critical antecedent: events 35

To be or not to be? The age-old question of nature and nurture 37

Closing thoughts 41

Part 2 Eliciting the future 45

3 Developing a sustainable future: theoretical and practical insights into sustainable development 47

Chapter summary 47

Introduction 49

Connecting people, profits and planet: the rise of the sustainability agenda 50

Interactions between people and places 51

Role of political leaders and infrastructure development 58

Industry response to the sustainable development agenda 68

Role of education and research 70

Summing up the thoughts of our leading figures 75

Sustainability: definitions and perspectives 78

Man-made capital: problems with an output-driven model 78

Human capital: the rhetoric versus reality of investing in people 81

Natural capital: consensus gained or paradise lost 86

Social capital: building trust and sustainable communities 94

The measurement problem: are efforts towards sustainable development doomed to fail? 100

Closing thoughts 102

4 Connecting up government, corporate and community stakeholders in governing the future of the construction industry 105

Chapter summary 105

Introduction 107

Governance of the industry: seeking an institutionally coordinated response to meet the challenges of the future 108

Think global act local 109

The changing role of government: relinquishing control to the private sector 115

Public–private interface 122

People and managing relationships in construction 128

Bringing interactions to the fore: exploring the intersections between government, corporate and community actors 140

Shifting perspectives of governance 142

Political governance: governance without government 143

Corporate governance: the rise of corporate social responsibility 145

Community governance: revisiting social capital 147

The need for joined-up governance 150

Governance in construction: the trends of privatisation and community engagement 155

The relationship between government and construction 155

Structure of the industry 161

Changing landscape of professionalism 165

Connecting political, corporate and community governance in construction: the importance of human relations 172

Closing thoughts 173

Part 3 Towards an afterthought 177

5 The last word: synthesising lessons learnt from the journeys... 179

Chapter summary 179

Introduction 180

Recap on previous chapters 181

Leadership as an emergent process: moving away from individualistic notions of leadership in construction 181

The missing social link of sustainable development 182

The aspirations of joined-up governance 182

Key conclusions 183

Futures thinking as emergent thinking 183

Disrupting boundaries: the age of hybrids 184

Tensions, ambiguities and paradoxes 185

Knowledge gaps to frame the research and practice agenda of the future 187

Epilogue 187

Appendix: Brief biographies of influential figures interviewed 189

Alan Ritchie 189

Bob White 189

Chris Blythe 190

Chris Luebkeman 190

George Ferguson 190

Guy Hazelhurst 190

Jon Rouse 191

Kenneth Yeang 191

Kevin McCloud 191

Nick Raynsford 192

Sandi Rhys Jones 192

Sir Michael Latham 192

Stef Stefanou 193

Tom Bloxham 193

Wayne Hemingway 194

Notes and references 195

Index 219