The present work discusses the possibilities offered by the evolution of Information and Communication Technologies with the aim of designing a system to dynamically obtain knowledge of accessibility issues in urban environments. This system is facilitated by technology to analyse the urban user experience and movement accessibility, which enabling accurate identification of urban barriers and monitoring its effectiveness over time. Therefore, the main purpose of the system is to meet the real needs and requirements of people with movement disabilities. The information obtained can be provided as a support service for decision-making to be used by city government, institutions, researchers, professionals and other individuals of society in general to improve the liveability and quality of the lives of citizens. The proposed system is a means of social awareness that makes the most vulnerable groups of citizens visible by involving them as active participants. To perform and implement the system, the latest communication and positioning technologies for smart sensing have been used, as well as the cloud computing paradigm. Finally, to validate the proposal, a case study has been presented using the university environment as a pre-deployment step in urban environments.

The current computer technology facilitates the processing of large volumes of information in architectural design teams, in parallel with recent advances in-flight automation in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along with lower costs, facilitates their use to capture aerial photographs and obtain orthophotographs and 3D models of relief and terrain textures. With these technologies, 3D models can be produced that allow different geometric configurations of the distribution of construction elements on the ground to be analyzed. This article presents the process of implementation in a terrain integrated into the early stages of architectural design. A methodology is proposed that covers the detailed capture of terrain, the relationship with the architectural design environment, and its implementation on the plot. As a novelty, an inverse perspective to the remaining disciplines is presented, from the inside of the object to the outside. The proposed methodology for the use of UAVs integrates terrain capture, generation of the 3D mesh, superimposition of environmental realities and architectural design using building information modeling (BIM) technologies. In addition, it represents the beginning of a line of research on the implementation of the plot and the layout of foundations using UAVs. The results obtained in the study carried out in three different projects comparing traditional technologies with the integration of UAVs + BIM show a clear improvement in the second option. The use of new technologies applied to the execution and control of work not only improves accuracy but also reduces errors and saves time, which undoubtedly indicates significant savings in costs and deviations in the project.

Current market conditions characterized by technological changes, increasing regulatory requirements and low funding make current construction management models obsolete. This tendency affects not only the private housing market but also public administration projects, which have large time and budget deviations across the board. As a result, new approaches are needed to improve the efficiency of the construction process, removing extra costs and delivering projects on time. The most representative trends in the construction industry that enable such improvements are both Building Information Modelling paradigm (BIM) and Lean Construction philosophy with one of its associated tools in the field of construction management—the Last Planner System. However, a review of the literature shows the scarcity of works on the synergy of both paradigms taking into account the extensive literature on Lean and BIM individually. This is further accused if we look beyond the theoretical literature reviews. Therefore, this paper is focused on the benefits derived from the synergy of both disciplines and the impacts on project efficiency through a case study of a public construction project at the university of Alicante in order to provide empirical evidence of the benefits and improvements of using BIM at the Look Ahead meetings and of the Last Planner System. Finally, the results of the case study allow us to make a comparison with the data related to cost deviations of other public projects with different uses, built areas, and complexity which were managed with traditional methods of construction.

A Mass Customisation model is discussed as a competitive positioning strategy in the marketplace adding value to the customer’s end-use. It includes the user as part of the construction process responding to the customer’s demands and wishes. To the present day, almost all proposals for Mass Customisation have been focused on the design phase and single family houses. The reality is that the processes carried out in the work execution are so inefficient that the costs of the Mass Customisation models are assumed by the customer and they do not offer solutions that support the change management. Furthermore, this inefficiency often makes Mass Customisation unfeasible in terms of deadlines and site management. Therefore, the present proposal focuses on achieving the paradigm of Mass Customisation in the traditional residential construction complementary to the existing proposals in the design phase. All this through the proposal of a framework for the integral management in the work execution, which will address change management introduced by the users offering an efficient and productive model that reduces costs in the process. This model will focus on the synergy between different strategies, techniques and technologies currently used in the construction management (such as Lean Construction or Six Sigma), together with, other strategies and technologies that have proven to be valid solutions in other fields (such as Business Process Management, Service Oriented Architecture, etc.).

Despite the improvisations of current urban accessibility regulations and their application in urban systems, it is a fact that our cities are not accessible. Both, the assessment of the effectiveness of urban accessibility and its maintenance over time are issues that require a more consistent approach. In order to address these aspects, it is necessary to have an accurate awareness of the existing condition of urban accessibility. Therefore, the way this information is transformed into specific data, which must be collected, stored and assessed, is one of the main challenges that smart cities face. This research helps implement an integrated system for urban accessibility analysis, combining the latest advances in the Information and Communication Technologies, such as RF & GPS positioning, smart sensing and cloud computing. The main goal of this research is to develop a reliable and effective method to assess public space accessibility with special focus on people with disabilities, by eliciting from users personal experiences. Consequently, the data obtained will enable a better design for improving pedestrian mobility. As a result, a computational architecture for urban dynamics analysis has been designed. Finally, technology and data processing have been validated as an effective system for data collection, and, as a first approach to users’ real experience, it has been proposed to have a testing scenario at the University of Alicante