Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful technology with a range of capabilities, which are beginning to become apparent in all industries nowadays. The increased popularity of AI in the construction industry, however, is rather limited in comparison to other industry sectors. Moreover, despite AI being a hot topic in built environment research, there are limited review studies that investigate the reasons for the low-level AI adoption in the construction industry. This study aims to reduce this gap by identifying the adoption challenges of AI, along with the opportunities offered, for the construction industry. To achieve the aim, the study adopts a systematic literature review approach using the PRISMA protocol. In addition, the systematic review of the literature focuses on the planning, design, and construction stages of the construction project lifecycle. The results of the review reveal that (a) AI is particularly beneficial in the planning stage as the success of construction projects depends on accurate events, risks, and cost forecasting; (b) the major opportunity in adopting AI is to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks by using big data analytics and improving the work processes; and (c) the biggest challenge to incorporate AI on a construction site is the fragmented nature of the industry, which has resulted in issues of data acquisition and retention. The findings of the study inform a range of parties that operate in the construction industry concerning the opportunities and challenges of AI adaptability and help increase the market acceptance of AI practices.

The urbanization problems we face may be alleviated using innovative digital technology. However, employing these technologies entails the risk of creating new urban problems and/or intensifying the old ones instead of alleviating them. Hence, in a world with immense technological opportunities and at the same time enormous urbanization challenges, it is critical to adopt the principles of responsible urban innovation. These principles assure the delivery of the desired urban outcomes and futures. We contribute to the existing responsible urban innovation discourse by focusing on local government artificial intelligence (AI) systems, providing a literature and practice overview, and a conceptual framework. In this perspective paper, we advocate for the need for balancing the costs, benefits, risks and impacts of developing, adopting, deploying and managing local government AI systems in order to achieve responsible urban innovation. The statements made in this perspective paper are based on a thorough review of the literature, research, developments, trends and applications carefully selected and analyzed by an expert team of investigators. This study provides new insights, develops a conceptual framework and identifies prospective research questions by placing local government AI systems under the microscope through the lens of responsible urban innovation. The presented overview and framework, along with the identified issues and research agenda, offer scholars prospective lines of research and development; where the outcomes of these future studies will help urban policymakers, managers and planners to better understand the crucial role played by local government AI systems in ensuring the achievement of responsible outcomes.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful technology with an increasing popularity and applications in areas ranging from marketing to banking and finance, from agriculture to healthcare and security, from space exploration to robotics and transport, and from chatbots to artificial creativity and manufacturing. Although many of these areas closely relate to the urban context, there is limited understanding of the trending AI technologies and their application areas—or concepts—in the urban planning and development fields. Similarly, there is a knowledge gap in how the public perceives AI technologies, their application areas, and the AI-related policies and practices of our cities. This study aims to advance our understanding of the relationship between the key AI technologies (n = 15) and their key application areas (n = 16) in urban planning and development. To this end, this study examines public perceptions of how AI technologies and their application areas in urban planning and development are perceived and utilized in the testbed case study of Australian states and territories. The methodological approach of this study employs the social media analytics method, and conducts sentiment and content analyses of location-based Twitter messages (n = 11,236) from Australia. The results disclose that: (a) digital transformation, innovation, and sustainability are the most popular AI application areas in urban planning and development; (b) drones, automation, robotics, and big data are the most popular AI technologies utilized in urban planning and development, and; (c) achieving the digital transformation and sustainability of cities through the use of AI technologies—such as big data, automation and robotics—is the central community discussion topic.