Shaping the future of building

Prof Pantaleo Daniel Rwelamila (Project Management and Procurement Systems, SBL) is the co-editor of Improving the performance of construction industries in developing countries: Programmes, initiatives, achievements and challenges, a forthcoming book from international publishers Taylor & Francis.

Unisa’s Professor of Project Management and Procurement Systems at the Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), Pantaleo Daniel Rwelamila, is the Joint Coordinator of CIB–W107: Construction in developing countries, a working commission of the International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB). The commission recently submitted a book manuscript to international publishers Taylor & Francis, entitled Improving the performance of construction industries in developing countries: Programmes, initiatives, achievements and challenges. Rwelamila is one of the editors of the joint editors.

The book documents the experiences and prospects of the process management of the construction industry development in many developing countries, such as Chile, South Africa, Tanzania and Malaysia. It considers the legal and policy framework, administrative infrastructure and procedures, and the implementation mechanisms. It also looks at the experiences, current activities and future plans, as well as the programmes for construction industry development in each country.

A strong base of reference will be provided for countries looking to improve their construction industries as part of their wider economic development programme(s). According to Rwelamila, countries and their respective organisations have to choose construction industry development (CID) measures - innovations and action areas that best suit their own ambitions and their clients’ needs. Provided they choose wisely and pursue the choices actively and astutely, they should be able to secure their own CID future and ensure a flourishing and exciting future for the entire construction industries that they represent.

Rwelamila acknowledges that the world is changing faster than ever before. He explains the aim of the commission is to study and effectively disseminate the possible ways and means by which the construction industry of developing countries can be continuously improved. This will enable the countries to fulfil the tasks required of them in their drive to achieve social and economic progress.

"One of the global megatrends shaking up the construction industry is the population of the world’s urban areas increasing by 200 000 people per day, all of whom need affordable housing, social, transportation and utility infrastructure. In the face of such challenges, construction industries across the world are almost under a moral obligation to transform." He says their transformation will have transformative effects elsewhere, such as the following:

• On the wider society: By reducing construction costs
• On the environment: By improving the use of scarce materials or by making buildings more eco-efficient over time
• On the economy: By narrowing the global infrastructure gap and boosting economic development in general

Rwelamila co-edited the book with Prof Abdul-Rashid Abdul-Aziz from the School of Housing, Building and Planning at the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Malaysia. He has international standing as an expert in the CID and is the former Editor in Chief of the Journal of Construction in Developing Countries. "I believe that scholarship in my areas of expertise is enhanced when I can rub shoulders with my peers and Professor Abdul-Rashid Abdul-Aziz is one of my peers," he added.

Explaining the important qualities that publishers look for before they can publish, Rwelamila says the authors’ credentials - their standing in the area of expertise forming the book theme is important. The author needs to motivate and indicate the existing and competing books, and how the proposed book compares to them. Publishers also look at the motivation for marketing the book such as the readership, how long the book can remain up to date, and the professional institutions that will find the book useful.

* By Nancy Legodi, Acting Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement