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The importance of reliable and well‐developed infrastructure for the development of any nation hardly needs to be emphasized. Efficient transport, reliable energy, safe drinking water and modern telecommunication systems are all critical to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), expanding international trade, achieving long‐term investment and growth, and ultimately ensuring social development of the population. Although globalization was expected to ensure that global capital markets, which have the depth, maturity, size and sophistication to fund all viable investments would ease financing of infrastructure projects, this has not happened and demand for infrastructure, particularly in the developing countries has remained acute. This paper reviews the financing of infrastructure projects and based on historical trends it argues that construction industries need to take more active part in the financing of infrastructure projects as a strategy for their own development. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of putting infrastructure industries on commercial footing as a prerequisite to financing them.

Unlike in the manufacturing industries, participants of a construction project operate in a temporary multi‐disciplinary organisation in which the relationship ends as soon as the project is completed. Several project procurement systems such as the traditional procurement system (TPS) and its hybrids, design and build (D&B), and build, operate and transfer (BOT), have been developed and are in use in many countries. However, a study carried out in Botswana by means of interviews of professionals and clients in the built environment found an overwhelming consensus that the procurement systems used in the country are inadequate in meeting the normal client requirements and at worst, they are adversarial. There was also a consensus that a procurement system that is based on concurrent engineering (CE) principles may alleviate these problems. Several barriers to adopting CE principles in the construction industry were raised during the interviews. The paper discusses how CE principles may be used to form a procurement system and concludes by proposing the measures that may be taken to overcome the barriers to this approach.

The lack of ‘ubuntu’ (African group solidarity) between project stakeholders in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) public building sector has been surrounded by controversy and strongly held opinions. The work reported in this paper attempts to indicate some salient issues affecting the relationships between project stakeholders. The Botswana public building sector is used as a main case study and follow‐up studies are carried out involving another eight SADC countries. The paper addresses two propositions. First, that the lack of ‘ubuntu’ between project stakeholders is primarily due to an inappropriate project organizational structure. Second, that a default traditional construction procurement system (TCPS), provides a poor relationship management system. Information is obtained on the research areas through questionnaires to construction firm executives, contract managers, site managers, trade foremen and skilled tradespersons on the dominant procurement system used in Botswana. Furthermore, senior technical officers of Public Works Ministries of another eight SADC countries are interviewed as a follow‐up to the Botswana study. The primary conclusion to be drawn is that the building procurement system purported to be in use in the SADC public building sector differs significantly from that recommended in the theory, resulting in poor relationships between project stakeholders. This is primarily due to the use of inappropriate building procurement systems. In general, the TCPS in the SADC public building sector is used as a ‘default system’. This has led to a situation where project management is a ‘fire fighting’ activity, where group solidarity between project stakeholders is out of reach. Salient steps are proposed with a proviso that the SADC public building sector should establish appropriate methods of selecting building procurement systems as a prerequisite in formulating appropriate project organizational structures which will bring the spirit of real co‐operation between project stakeholders towards project success.

By involving the beneficiaries of a facility such as housing or an irrigation scheme, at the various stages of the project, it is possible to build their capacity in relation to the facility, which may contribute to the sustainability of the project beyond the disbursement period. A study carried out in Botswana found that the intensity of community participation at the various stages of facility development is influenced by the complexity of the technology adopted and the willingness of the facility managers to involve the community from the early stages of the project. Based on these findings, this paper proposes a framework which may be followed to achieve this end.

This paper addresses the forms, renovation and retrofitting of the rural settlements in the North-western county of Setif in Algeria. This region has a major advantage of being able to have a representation of the traditional rural dwellings within a massive mountain resulted in a particular Berber culture. The study will allow us to understand the relationship of the frame built respecting the physical and socioeconomic constraints, including the ongoing retrofitting.

Many studies are based on the astonishing assumption that the village space is a continuation in another dimension of the urban space; this vision has marginalized village capacities in favour of an image of modernity (technical, social and political), leading to the lost of a whole cultural past. The new constructions care very slightly for ecology. The result is unsuitable houses, uncomfortable, ungracious sites and landscapes.

We shall study here the effects of changes in the construction methods, in terms of a spatial organization, materials and aesthetics. This fact affects the original essence of rural architecture in this region. Is it possible to restore the delicate balance between forms, meanings and functions of theses constructions?

One of the objectives of this work is deepening knowledge on this traditional crafts environment. There is also an interest in the contemporary manifestations of this habitat and forms of these contemporary changes. The data obtained during the field study (the Berber villages) are analysed and evaluated, and guidelines are proposed to improve the methods in intervening on rural housing in this region.

Technological advancement, innovative procurement patterns such as build‐operate‐transfer, build‐own‐operate‐transfer as well as intrusion of international contractors have immensely changed the construction market. Local contractors need to devise a strategy to raise not only its technological capability but also financial capability which becomes increasingly necessary to compete successfully in this new landscape. This study aimed to investigate strategic assets which have been driving financial capability of construction firms in Thailand. Four large construction firms in Thailand were investigated through case study method and the result was verified with twelve industry experts. Three strategic assets were found contributing to competitive advantage of Thai construction firms including access to capital, efficient cash management, and effective capital investment. It was also found that strong relationship was the needed ingredient in developing these particular assets in Thailand. The findings should assist managers of construction firms in realizing the impact of financial capability, envisaging its driving strategic assets, and comprehending the mechanism which provides competitive advantage.

The design and construction of infrastructure facilities such as road network, water supply and sewage disposal in Botswana, have often been done in a top‐bottom fashion where the government or local authority decides what is good for the community. While the design and construction of infrastructure facilities require technical knowledge, heavy equipment and proper supervision, their management hardly requires these resources to the same extent. This offers the beneficiaries of the facilities an opportunity to manage their day‐to‐day operations and maintenance. Reports on an approach adopted to engage the community in the management of local road network, water supply and sanitation in three major villages in Botswana. It analyses the method previously employed in managing these facilities and outlines the benefits which will accrue when this approach is fully operational. Concludes by underlining the fact that, for community‐managed facilities to work, the people in the community need to participate in all the stages of the project (i.e. planning, design, construction and eventually maintenance).

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify and rank the challenges influencing the delivery of the housing public-private partnership (HPPP) in Tanzania; and second, to suggest solutions in the form of a conceptual public-private partnership (PPP) framework model that will address the identified challenges and boost the chances of success.

Using a convergent parallel (concurrent) mixed method approach, data were collected from 28 stakeholders involved with HPPP projects in Tanzania using a hand-delivered and e-mail survey and 13 semi-structured interviews with public and private sector respondents. The quantitative data included subjecting the 19 challenges as identified from the literature to parametric tests such as one-sample t-tests and descriptive statistics tests such as measures of central tendencies and frequency analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0). Qualitative data employed content analysis. The research was further underpinned by a number of theoretical perspectives such as Gidden’s structuration theory, contingency theory, relational and equity theory.

The top five ranked challenges influencing the delivery of HPPP were “inadequate PPP skills and knowledge”; “poor contracting and tendering documents”; “inadequate project management”; “inadequate legal framework”; and “misinformation on financial capacity of private partners”. The least six ranked and most significant challenges based on the one-sample (single) t-tests were as follows: “Poor risk allocation”; “inexperienced private partner”; “unequal qualification and contributions of expertise”; “poor enabling environment to attract competent partners”; “inadequate mechanisms for recovery of private investors’ capital”; and “high costs in procuring PPP projects”. The qualitative study further confirmed the challenges and cited the reason for the failure of joint venture projects as the lack of motivation for undertaking similar PPP projects. Despite the increased awareness of PPP projects and associated marginal benefits, the main impediment to the uptake and delivery of PPP housing projects remained the lack of skills and expertise.

The proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Future studies could test the applicability of the proposed framework in other HPPP projects in Tanzania, and in other similar developing countries. Second, the validated framework can contribute towards addressing similar challenges as well as providing guidance. The proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Furthermore, recommendation for future research is to test the alignment of the identified challenges to the proposed remedial solutions across the five phases within the proposed PPP framework with a number of case studies.

The identified challenges were used to form the basis of the framework presented in this paper. Furthermore, these provide useful information, thus leading to increased awareness to enable successful delivery of HPPP in Tanzania. Similarly, both the government and policy makers could use the findings as the basis for re-examining the existing PPP policy and regulations, and reflecting on the existing situation with a view to improving the delivery of future HPPP projects.

The empirical study is among the first that identifies and ranks the challenges of PPP for housing projects delivery within the Tanzanian context. The identification of the challenges enabled their ranking, resulting in the mapping out of the most critical challenges. Furthermore, using the Gidden’s structuration theory, the study illustrates how institution mechanisms (structures) address these delivery challenges, thus influencing the implementation of HPPP in Tanzania, and how individual stakeholders (human agents or agency) are able to make choices (advocated solutions) in dealing with the challenges. More so, these constraints (challenges) as identified and viewed through the contingency and equity theoretical lenses form the foundation for developing the PPP conceptual framework. The proposed framework would thus serve as a mechanism for providing practical solutions as well as reducing the level of severity of the identified challenges.

The purpose of this research is to identify the key aspects present in collaborative projects with the objective of producing a clear definition for collaboration within the UK construction industry. Firstly, the research provided a summary of the different forms of “working together” that have become more prevalent since Latham's and Egan's work. Partnering was seen as the ultimate form of collaboration, but due to the recent economic crisis, it has enjoyed diminishing support. Collaboration was perceived as the new way forward. However, the literature on the subject often used the term “collaboration” interchangeably with partnering, alliances, joint ventures, and networks. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify what the meaning of collaboration is currently.

Primary research was carried out in order to provide a clearer picture of what collaboration is. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected through a triangulation of questionnaires and interviews. Selective samples of personnel were approached to take part in interviews to identify aspects of collaboration which were subsequently used to produce a questionnaire. A larger selected sample of personnel was then approached to complete the questionnaires. All personnel in the sample were selected as they had been involved in collaborative construction projects. Semi structured interviews were used to provide a list of aspects to collaboration. The aspects were then ranked in importance based on the analysis of results from an online questionnaire. The aspects were then grouped into those that were considered essential; for those that were considered desirable and those that merely added an extra dimension to collaborative working.

The interviews produced a list of 48 aspects which the participants considered were relevant to collaboration. Through the use of online questionnaires, the 48 aspects were rank ordered and the essential aspects to collaboration identified. The rank ordered list of aspects was then used to inform the definitions of collaboration.

The findings of this research indicated that there are a large number of aspects that are associated with collaborative working. However, the results provide an indication of which of the many aspects identified are essential if a collaborative environment is to be established.