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The advances in green city growth are widely discussed in extant literature. The benefits of green cities to urban development in recent discussions of sustainability and sustainable development are well documented and cannot be overemphasised. Although a growing study on green building development in developing countries has been advanced in literature, there is a paucity of studies that explore green cities in developing countries. Moreover, evidence of studies that have focussed on green cities development in Ghana is lacking. Because of this identified knowledge gap, the purpose of this study is to establish the indicators/attributes for measuring the level of greenness of cities in developing countries.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the indicators/attributes for measuring the level of greenness of cities in developing countries. This study has adopted the pragmatism as its undergirding research philosophy and the deductive research approach. In terms of methodological choice, quantitative research strategy was used to collect data from experts in sustainable urban development. The primary data retrieved from this study was analysed using descriptive statistics, relative importance index and one-sample t-test. The reliability and validity of this study were measured with the Cronbach’s alpha test.

This study established eight indicators for measuring green city development: air quality, water, sanitation, land use, health and safety, transportation, energy and building and construction. It was discovered that the development of green cities should enhance air quality, improve water production and supply, improve management in sanitation, promote mixed and integrative land use, maintain the health and safety of city dwellers, reduce the demand for transportation and formalise public transport, adopt renewable and efficient energy technologies and promote sustainable construction and green buildings. These indicators are key to policymaking and implementation of green cities development.

This study focusses primarily on Ghana; however, the findings of this study do not limit the generalisability, as it can be used as an example for other developing countries.

Theoretically, this study adopted quantitative indicators that are reproducible in another geographical context. This study contributively adds to the discourse on sustainability, especially in Ghana, and can be a source of reference to motivate others to conduct further research in related areas. The outcomes of this study will help the local government, policymakers, city stakeholders and industry expertise to gain insights of the overall indicators that underpin green city development.

This paper attempts to posit in literature the foremost appraisal of green city indicators adaptive in Ghana, which could motivate other developing countries to develop their own green cities.

Religiousness is evident in every aspect of life, and its impact on construction project performance is undeniable. However, little has been done to fully understand the influences one's religiosity has on performance factors. This paper aims to explore the influence of religious elements on performance factors in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI).

Using a desk survey and closed-ended questionnaire, data were obtained from the three religious' bodies (Christianity, Islamic and Traditionalist) in Ghana. The analysis of the collected data was done using mean score ranking and regression analysis.

It was revealed that most of the religious bodies were aware of the presence of the seven factors identified for measuring construction project performance. The findings suggested that there was a significant and positive relationship between the religious elements (of all the three religions) and cost as well as schedule performance. Islam recorded the highest relationship in influencing public construction project performance relative to cost performances. Specifically, 1% increase in Islamic elements accounted for an 82.7% increase in cost performance. Traditionalists and the Christian religion had minimal significance in influencing cost performance. Furthermore, a 1% progress in Islamic elements accounted for a 45.8% increase in the schedule performance of construction projects and among construction professionals.

This study has provided better understanding of the religious views on project performance. This research has also provided pragmatic directions to project stakeholders to encourage religious groups to take critical look at the other performance factors that were seen not to be significant.

This paper represents a novel attempt to measure the influence of religious elements on project performance factors in the construction industry. A key contribution to the body of knowledge is that the study has proven that religious element has tendencies to influence cost performance and schedule performance in the construction industry.

The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to guide green cities development in developing countries. The study adapted and validated indicators that can be adopted, to predict, estimate, depict and measure green city development in developing countries. In using a covariance-based structural equation model (CBSEM), the study developed a framework for green cities development in developing countries using Kumasi city (Ghana) as a case study.

To test the proposed framework, a quantitative methodology was used, in which, data was collected using research questionnaires that targeted a sample of 200 green city experts. In total, 154 useable questionnaires were retrieved, representing a response rate of 77%. The confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were adopted in a CBSEM.

The indices reported were indicative that the model/framework is a good fit for the data. This points to the direction that the model for measuring green city development was statistically significant and acceptable. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed a robust fit of the indices, as they met the standardised cut-off points and as such the model fits the data.

This novel research is one of the few studies investigating green cities development in Ghana which could serve as a lesson for other developing countries. The proposed green city framework will serve as a guide to stakeholders in identifying the key indicators/factors that are critical to green city development in developing countries, especially Ghanaian cities.

This study proposed a green city framework to guide the development of green cities based on the local context of Ghana.

The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as one of the most challenging industries globally in terms of implementing environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices. However, in the absence of EHS, the construction industry cannot be considered sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to identify the trends, knowledge gaps and implications of EHS research to enhance construction activities and knowledge.

The study adopted a science mapping approach involving bibliometric and scientometric analysis of 407 construction EHS publications from the Scopus database with the VOSviewer software. The study is based on journal articles from the Scopus database without restriction to any time range.

The main focus of construction EHS research identified in the study includes sustainability-related studies, risk-related, environmental issues, EHS management, integrated management systems studies, health and safety related and EHS in the construction process. Some emerging areas also identified include productivity, design, culture, social sustainability and machine learning. The most influential and productive publication sources, countries/regions and EHS publications with the highest impact were also determined.

Documents published in the Scopus database were considered for analysis because of the wider coverage of the database. Journal articles written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, whereas other documents were excluded from the analysis. The study also limited the search to articles with the engineering subject area.

The research findings will enlighten stakeholders and practitioners on the focal knowledge areas in the EHS research domain, which are vital for enhancing EHS in the industry.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review-based study is the first attempt to internationally conduct a science mapping on extant literature in the EHS research domain through bibliometric and scientometric assessments.

The construction industry is an enabler of economic growth in developing countries, but its performance is governed by the professional behaviour of construction professionals. Unethical behaviour (UB) breaches codes of practice and undermines economic performance hence, ubiquitous academic attention has been given to understanding this phenomenon. This paper aims to contribute to the ensuing discourse by reporting upon the most critical ethical behaviours (EBs and UBs) of professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI).

The study compounded identified factors into a closed-ended questionnaire in a quantitative research strategy. Data analysis was conducted using the relative importance index and one sample t-test. To measure the reliability of the scale, Cronbach’s alpha was used, which indicated that all measured items were reliable for further analysis.

The study confirmed that professionals within the GCI are aware of the existence of UBs and revealed that the most prevalent ethical conducts exhibited, namely, level of accuracy, accountability, honesty, reliability, fairness and respect for colleagues. Common unethical conducts exhibited included: favouritism, bribery and corruption, professional negligence, falsification, fraud and overbilling.

The study reported on the dominant ethical conduct among built environment professionals. The claims put forward in the analysis are, thus, affected by Ghana’s social, economic and political environments, which could restrict the generalization of the findings.

Incipient findings presented from this research will guide stakeholders to develop and device strategies that will aid alleviate persistent ethical issues within the built environment.

The study highlights individuals’ perspectives on ethical issues persistent in the built environment. The findings suggest individuals adhere to ethical practices in a project environment by the evidence presented.

This pioneering study is a novel assessment on EBs and UBs of built environment professionals in the GCI. The study supplementary adds value to the literature on ethical and unethical practices. By identifying these practices, construction firms have a competitive edge in combating UB and promoting EB among built environment professionals in the GCI.

The construction industry is beset with unethical behaviours. Although several studies have investigated the effects of unethical behaviours on project performance, research in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI) remains scant. Consequently, this research assesses the interactive effects of ethical and unethical behaviours of construction professionals on project performance in the GCI.

A quantitative research approach was used to obtain primary data from 68 construction professionals, viz, quantity surveyors, architects, civil engineers, clerk of works and project managers, via a closed-ended questionnaire survey. Data collected were analysed using one-sample t-test and Kruskal–Wallis test statistics, after which two hypotheses were tested and validated using regression analysis.

Reduction of project risks, avoidance of legal problems and maximisation project quality performance were critical effects of ethical behaviours observed on project performance, whereas the effects of unethical behaviours such as cost overrun, abandonment and time overrun were severe on project performance in the GCI. Ethical behaviour was seen to relate to project performance positively, and unethical behaviour was proved to have dire consequences on project performance.

Construction project performance is greatly influenced by professionals' ethical and unethical behaviours. Emergent findings emanating from this research will assist emerging economies in developing and implementing counter policies and systems that mitigate the unethical behaviours of construction professionals.

The study highlights the effects of ethical and unethical behaviours on project performance to reorient individuals' perceptions that unethical behaviours are less critical in the construction industry. Supporting evidence encourages individuals to adhere to ethical behaviours in a project environment.

The inability to obtain data across the entire geographical spread of Ghana is acknowledged as a major limitation of the study and affects the generalisation of the results.

This study constitutes a first attempt to establish the interactive effects of ethical and unethical behaviours of construction professionals on project performance within the GCI. A significant addition to the body of knowledge is that ethical and unethical behaviours impact project performance positively or negatively, respectively.

In Ghana, graduates often have limited entrepreneurial skills and rarely undertake entrepreneur initiatives as they are persistently in search of non-existing jobs in the formal sector. On this basis, this study was conducted to identify underlying strategies for improving entrepreneurial skill requirement of technical and vocational students in developing countries using Ghana as a case study.

The study approach was largely mixed, as the study aimed at testing existing theories on the entrepreneurial development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates and tutors using a quantitative approach. The findings of the study were further validated qualitatively by interviewing TVET experts and tutors. The analysis of the quantitative data gathered was done using relative importance index (RII) and factor analysis (FA). The thematic analysis was employed in analyzing the qualitative data gathered.

The study revealed that four key strategies needed in improving the entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial education among TVE students in Ghana: comprised learner/student centred education; problem-based learning (PBL); classrooms that encourage development of intellectual aptitudes and activity-based learning (ABL). However, the leading reasons for non-usage of the underlying strategies were the lack of capacity of the tutors in the adoption of the strategies, lack of availability of human resources at TVET and the poor perception of TVET tutors and students. Some challenges included faced in adopting the strategies encompassed inadequate training resources, tutors’ training not tailored to the emerging technological advancement, insufficient resources and infrastructure, lack of industrial collaboration and readiness of the job market to absolve graduate from TVET.

The results of the study showed the mode of instruction delivery of entrepreneurial education should be improved by adopting the key strategies identified in this study in comparison to the conventional mode of education. The findings of this study would stir the policy debate on entrepreneurial education in Ghana. Similarly, further studies could develop relevant hypothesis for testing the identified strategies and its impact on entrepreneurial skill development in Ghana.

Various studies on entrepreneurial education has been developed all over the world. This study focused on how the skills of TVE students can be improved. The study further identified reasons for non-usage of these strategies in improving the entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial education by TVET tutors and other challenges faced by tutors who adopted the underlying strategies. A study of this nature in Ghana is novel and cogent findings were elicited from this study that could form the basis for policymaking and curriculum development in developing countries.

Leadership encapsulates a process of influencing others to understand what needs to be done and how it can be done. The related area of mindset behaviour which moderates leadership styles adopted in various industries has hitherto received scant academic attention in a construction context. This paper thus explores the linkages between project manager's mindset behaviour and project leadership style in the construction industry.

Literature reviewed provides the basis for a questionnaire data collection instrument developed to gather primary data from construction professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI). A quantitative research strategy was then adopted using the Relative Importance Index (RII) to determine the level of significance of the leadership and mindset archetypes. A Pearson's correlation test was run to ascertain whether the mindset behaviour of project managers has a significant impact upon the type of leadership style.

The study's results indicate that democratic, transformational and situational leadership styles were prevalent leadership styles in the GCI. The analysis also revealed that project managers favoured the “growth mindset”. Furthermore this style had a moderate positive relationship with democratic and transformational leadership styles. Conversely, a fixed mindset had a low positive relationship with autocratic and situational leadership styles but a low negative relationship with transformational leadership style.

This research provides sufficient data for project managers to identify the type of mindset to nurture (the growth mindset is recommended) and the effective leadership style to be employed. This study engenders wider discussion on mindset behaviour and project leadership style in developing countries. Moreover, the findings present policymakers and practitioners with the leadership styles to promote and develop (democratic, transformational and situational) and mindset behaviour (growth mindset) to ensure project success in Ghana and other developing countries.

This research represents the first comprehensive study appraising the linkages between project managers’ mindset behaviour and project leadership style in the construction industry. Empirical data presented bridge the identified knowledge gap that exists on the lack of theoretical understanding of the influence that project managers' mindset has on leadership styles in the GCI.

Supply chain (SC) disruption, whether demand sided or supply sided, is conversely perceived to affect organisational performance of construction firms. This paper, therefore, aims to examine the linkage of supply chain disruptions with organisational performance of construction firms through the moderating role of innovation.

Using a quantitative research, approach the views of 84 construction professionals were elicited using a structured questionnaire. Ordinary least squares were utilised to validate the hypotheses set.

The study proved that there is a negative relationship between demand-related disruption and business performance as well as project performance. Also, it was clear from the study that supply-related disruptions had a significant impact on both project performance and business performance. Although SC innovation was seen to impact business performance, it had no relationship with project performance. Generally, innovation was seen to have a moderating effect of demand and supply disruption of project performance, but it played no moderating role in business performance.

The findings suggest that business firms must be innovative with the supply chain, as it moderated project success. The supply chain of a construction firm plays a very critical role on projects; hence, this study recommends that a supply chain manager ought to be innovative in their operations due to the moderating role SC innovation has on project performance and largely business performance.

Various studies on supply chain has been done on different sectors in the economy; however, little can be said about the construction industry on how supply chain disruptions affects business and project performance and how innovation moderates such effects.

Of late, cities across the globe are taking pragmatic steps towards addressing environmental, social and economic problems in the debate on sustainable development. Even so, little attention has been paid to studies focused on developing countries. The aim of this study is to examine the barriers to green cities development in developing countries.

A comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the barriers to green cities development. In terms of methodological choice, a quantitative research strategy was used to collect data from professionals who have lines of influence on the greening of our cities and sustainable urban development.

The barriers to green city development identified were lack of awareness of the benefits of a green city, environmental degradation, insufficient policy implementation efforts, excessive generation of solid waste and poor wastewater collection and treatment. It was indicative from the study findings that taking the right sustainable steps in urban development and a paradigm shift towards the pillars of sustainability, Ghanaian cities, especially Kumasi, have a great proclivity of regaining its longstanding status being “Garden City”.

The outcome of this study provides stakeholders in city development an insight into the barriers that inhibit the development of green cities. In practice, this study contributively proposes that the concept of green cities should be incorporated in the education and training of stakeholders to improve the level of awareness.

This paper presents the foremost comprehensive study appraising green city development in Ghana.