The construction sector exerts an exceptional impact on economic development all over the world. Adequate buildings and infrastructures made by the construction sector ensure that a country reaches certain targets like social development, industrialization, freight transportation, sustainable development, and urbanization. This study aims to determine the construction sector’s connectivity with other sectors through complex linkages that contribute immensely to the economy and gross domestic product (GDP). The data were collected from the Department of Statistics Malaysia and the World Bank from the year 1970 to 2019, and the Pearson correlation test, the cointegration test, and the Granger causality test were conducted. The vector error correction model (VECM) was created for short-term and long-term equilibrium analysis and impulse response function (IRF) was performed to study construction industry behavior. Afterwards, the forecasting was done for the year 2020 to 2050 of the Malaysian economy and GDP for the required sectors. It was revealed that some sectors, such as agriculture and services, have forward linkages while other sectors, such as manufacturing and mining, are independent of construction sector causality, which signifies the behavior of the contributing sectors when a recession occurs, hence generating significant revenue. The Malaysian economy is moving towards sustainable production with more emphasis on the construction sector. The outcome can be used as a benchmark by other countries to achieve sustainable development. The significance of this study is its usefulness for experts all over the world in terms of allocating resources to make the construction sector a sustainable sector after receiving a shock. A sustainable conceptual framework has been suggested for global application that shows the factors involved in the growth of the construction industry to ensure its sustainable development with time.

All over the world, increasing anthropogenic activities, industrialization, and urbanization have intensified the emissions of various pollutants that cause air pollution. Marble quarries in Pakistan are abundant and there is a plethora of small- and large-scale industries, including mining and marble-based industries. The air pollution caused by the dust generated in the process of crushing and extracting marble can cause serious problems to the general physiological functions of plants and it affects human life as well. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to assess the air quality of areas with marble factories and areas without marble factories, where the concentration of particulate matter in terms of total suspended particles (TSP) was determined. For this purpose, EPAM-5000 equipment was used to measure the particulate levels. Besides this, a spectrophotometer was used to analyze the presence of PM2.5 and PM10 in the chemical composition of marble dust. It was observed that the TSP concentrations in Darmangi and Malagori areas of Peshawar, Pakistan—having marble factories—were 626 µg/m³ and 5321 µg/m³ respectively. The (PM_2.5, PM₁₀) concentration in Darmangi was (189 µg/m³, 520 µg/m³) and in Malagori, it was recorded as (195 µg/m³, 631 µg/m³), which was significantly higher than the non-marble dust areas and also exceeded WHO recommended standards. It was concluded that the areas with the marble factories were more susceptible to air pollution as the concentration of TSP was significantly higher than the recommended TSP levels. It is recommended that marble factories should be shifted away from residential areas along with strict enforcement. People should be instructed to use protective equipment and waste management should be ensured along with control mechanisms to monitor particulate levels.

Expansive soils are found in numerous regions of the world explicitly in arid and semiarid zones. These soils expand when absorbed moisture and shrink when released water. Such soil is viewed as a characteristic risk for infrastructures due to the shrink and swell behavior. These soils become more problematic when lightly or moderately loaded structures are built on them. The swelling and shrinkage in these soils chiefly happen due to the presence of montmorillonite minerals. The mineralogical and swell behavior of foundation soils is playing a vital role in the overall stability of a structure. These parameters are often ignored in the geotechnical report writing stage specifically in small projects, due to which, the durability and service life of the facilities are reduced and the maintenance cost is increased. To mitigate the potential damages in structures constructed on expansive soil, it is necessary to assess the mineralogical and swelling characteristics of expansive soil. The current study aims to determine the geotechnical, mineralogical, and swell behavior of the local expansive soils. Based on the results, the Karak soil has the highest plasticity index (PI) of 37% with a clay fraction of 28%, while the D.I. Khan soil has the least PI of 23% with a clay fraction of 17%. Similarly, Karak’s soil contained a higher percentage of montmorillonite (Rp = 8.9%). The maximum values of swell pressure, swell potential, and 1D deformation are 280 kPa, 12.5%, and 1.92 mm for the Karak soil, 6.45% 150 kPa, and 1.38 mm for D.I. Khan soil, and 10.5%, 245 kPa, and 1.64 mm for Kohat soil, respectively. This concludes that Karak’s soil has high plasticity and swell characteristics than Kohat and D.I. Khan soil. The swell characteristic of expansive soils increases with the increase in the percentage of the fine specifically the clay fraction. Furthermore, the Karak soil is more critical than Kohat and D.I. khan soil for lightly loaded structures.

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of Peshawar District has been performed for a grid size of 0.01∘. The seismic sources for the target location are defined as the area polygon with uniform seismicity. The earthquake catalogue was developed based on the earthquake data obtained from different worldwide seismological networks and historical records. The earthquake events obtained at different magnitude scales were converted into moment magnitude using indigenous catalogue-specific regression relationships. The homogenized catalogue was subdivided into shallow crustal and deep-subduction-zone earthquake events. The seismic source parameters were obtained using the bounded Gutenberg–Richter recurrence law. Seismic hazard maps were prepared for peak horizontal acceleration at bedrock level using different ground motion attenuation relationships. The study revealed the selection of an appropriate ground motion prediction equation is crucial for defining the seismic hazard of Peshawar District. The inclusion of deep subduction earthquakes does not add significantly to the seismic hazard for design base ground motions. The seismic hazard map developed for shallow crustal earthquakes, including also the epistemic uncertainty, was in close agreement with the map given in the Building Code of Pakistan Seismic Provisions (2007) for a return period of 475 years on bedrock. The seismic hazard maps for other return periods i.e., 50, 100, 250, 475 and 2500 years, are also presented.