Construction

Abstract

The building blocks for cities are numerous, and, as noted in Chapter 3, from a sustainability perspective these can be defined in terms of social, governance, economic, and physical dimensions. The physical aspect encompasses offices, roads, telecommunication networks, houses, rail lines and many other components that define the built environment. This built environment is important for the continued existence and functioning of towns and cities. The built environment is a product of the construction industry and yet rarely is the economic importance of the industry realised by the infrastructure users (Pheng, 1995). This chapter starts by addressing that omission, exploring the role that the construction industry plays in urban development. Different products of the construction industry will be noted, with particular attention to housing, given its crucial importance for developing countries. The analysis of construction concludes by noting the need for improvement, highlighting the possible added value of CSR. This paves the ground for the following part of the chapter, which presents case studies on CSR in the construction sector. The chapter concludes with an analysis of findings from the case studies, which later on in the book will be put together with the findings from the remaining case-studies chapters.