Prefabricated construction has been proven effective, environmentally-friendly, and labor-friendly. It is widely considered a sustainable approach to the construction industry. China is still in the initial process of adopting prefabricated construction practices and has conducted a few studies to date on the constraints of prefabricated construction up to the operation stage. This paper focuses on the major factors obstructing prefabricated construction development in China. Twenty-three variables affecting said development are summarized per the results of a literature review and a semi-structured interview. A questionnaire was delivered to developers, designers, contractors, engineers, component suppliers, and property managers. A total of 160 valid respondents were collected. Twenty-three variables were ranked by the mean score after an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that no statistical differences in the data from six stakeholders. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to reduce the dimensionality of four factors: industry chain, cost, social climate and public opinion, and risk. The risk is found to be the main influencing factor even though it is rarely the focal point of research on prefabricated construction. The findings presented in this paper may assist different stakeholders in better understanding issues with prefabricated construction practices in China at present and, therefore, find workable solutions.

The process of prefabrication housing production (PHP) has been inevitably faced with diverse challenges. A number of factors affect the successful implementation of PHP. However, the critical success factors (CSFs) remain unrevealed. This paper aims to examine the CSFs for the planning and control of PHP projects. A total of 23 factors were identified as a result of literature review, in-depth interviews and pilot studies with experts in the construction industry. A questionnaire survey was conducted with designers, manufacturers, and contractors in China. The result showed that the top five CSFs were: (1) designers’ experience of PHP, (2) manufacturer’s experience of PHP, (3) project manager’s ability to solve problems, (4) maturity of techniques used in the detailed design phase, and (5) persistent policies and incentives. The 23 CSFs were further categorized into five groups via exploratory factor analysis, namely: (1) technology and method, (2) information, communication and collaboration, (3) external environment, (4) experience and knowledge, and (5) competence of the project manager. In particular, “technology and method” played the dominant role. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge via a holistic approach covering the key actors of PHP such as designers, manufacturers as well as contractors to examine CSFs of PHP. These findings provided designers and project managers with a useful set of criteria for the effective project planning and control of PHP and facilitated the successful implementation PHP.

Despite the consensus that enhanced cooperation among stakeholders is critical to the successful delivery of public-private partnership (PPP) mega-infrastructure projects, there has been a limited utilization of the quantitative approach to explore the cooperation mechanism. Drawing on research and the actual practice of PPP projects in China, a quantitative mathematical model using evolutionary game theory is constructed to explore the internal cooperation mechanism. Numerical simulation is implemented to investigate the impact of the punitive mechanism and allocation mechanism on the enhanced cooperation. The simulation result indicates that reasonable benefit allocation and a strong punitive mechanism are crucial to enhanced cooperation. Action research supported by a case study in Dalian was conducted to verify the scientific practicalities of the simulation method. An enhanced cooperation framework was proposed. The role conversion of the government and the private sectors makes the enhanced cooperation feasible. This evolution model and cooperation framework can facilitate enhanced cooperation in PPP mega-infrastructure projects.

A method based on Attribute Hierarchy Model (AHM) and dynamic fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is put forward aimed at the fact that factors influencing metro project financing risk have characteristics such as complexity, diversity and a quite subjective and partial evaluation process, in which case a new idea integrating the attribute hierarchy model and dynamic fuzzy evaluation model is brought out. This paper uses the AHM method to classify a variety of ingredients in the financing risk, establishes an index system of financing risk, determines the weight of each factor, then develops a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model on metro financing risk on the basis of fuzzy mathematics theory. This model demonstrates a combination of the qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. It proceeds to apply this empirical research to a case study to testify that this model is scientific and feasible.