Digital Technologies for Sustainable Highway Maintenance Governance: Evidence from a Scientific Maintenance Pilot in China

A Decision-Support Framework for Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Maintenance Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Urban infrastructure maintenance is critical for ensuring the long-term sustainability, safety, and performance of cities. However, many developing countries continue to rely on traditional maintenance approaches that are reactive and inefficient. Rapid urbanisation, population growth, and climate change have placed significant pressure on infrastructure systems, highlighting the need for more sustainable and proactive maintenance strategies. This study develops a framework for sustainable urban infrastructure maintenance by integrating environmental, economic, resilience, and technological considerations. A qualitative research approach was adopted through a systematic review of secondary data from peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and infrastructure management studies. Key themes relating to sustainable infrastructure maintenance were identified and synthesised into a decision-support framework. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed as a multi-criteria decision-making tool to evaluate and prioritise maintenance strategies. The analysis considered four main criteria: environmental impact, economic efficiency, resilience and adaptability, and technology integration. Results from the AHP analysis indicate that environmental impact is the most influential criterion, while climate-resilient infrastructure emerged as the highest-ranked maintenance strategy. The study demonstrates how multi-criteria decision-making techniques can effectively support the development of sustainable infrastructure maintenance frameworks. The proposed framework provides practical guidance for policymakers, engineers, and urban planners seeking to improve infrastructure resilience and sustainability in rapidly urbanising regions.

Lifecycle performance governance for smart buildings and critical infrastructure in sustainable Urban Systems

Sustainable urban infrastructure requires continuous performance governance across planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation stages. Smart buildings, transportation facilities, drainage networks, foundations, retaining systems, and public infrastructure assets are often evaluated separately, limiting the ability of decision makers to assess long-term resilience and service reliability. This study proposes a Lifecycle Performance Governance framework for smart buildings and critical infrastructure within sustainable urban systems. The framework integrates infrastructure performance indicators, environmental exposure variables, geotechnical reliability factors, and construction delivery metrics into a structured governance process. A Lifecycle Performance Score (LPS) is developed using weighted indicators representing structural serviceability, environmental vulnerability, maintenance priority, drainage sensitivity, foundation reliability, construction complexity, and operational resilience. The framework also incorporates Digital Twin-inspired condition updating using assumed, simulated, or publicly available performance information. The analytical evaluation demonstrates that the proposed framework provides consistent lifecycle performance assessment and supports maintenance prioritization, rehabilitation planning, investment allocation, and governance decision-making across multiple infrastructure categories. The proposed framework addresses the identified research gap through an integrated lifecycle governance approach and supports sustainable management of smart buildings and critical infrastructure without relying on proprietary operational datasets.

Bridging the Digital Divide in Green Infrastructure: How Institutional Structures Shape Technology Implementation across Urban Systems Life Cycle

Aim: This study aims to explore the role of digital technologies across the entire life cycle of Urban Green Infrastructure, which to date remains insufficiently mapped and understood. Methodology and Results: This review examined 75 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2019 and 2024 to understand where digital tools are used in planning, construction, and operation and maintenance. The literature shows a clear concentration of digital use in planning and in operation, with construction receiving far less attention. Planning and design studies rely mainly on Geographic Information Systems for spatial analysis and scenario comparison, while studies on operation and maintenance focus on monitoring and performance assessment through Internet of Things systems and remote sensing. Reported impacts relate mainly to data quality, system oversight, and management efficiency. Conclusion, significance and impact study: Across studies, this pattern does not appear to depend on the type of technology applied. Instead, digital use follows institutional responsibility and reporting routines. Phases with stable mandates show regular digital application, while construction remains weakly documented, which interrupts continuity between design intent and operational outcomes and limits interpretation of UGI performance across the life cycle.

Integrating Building Information Modeling and Digital Twins to Enhance Sustainable Construction Project Efficiency

This study explores the synergistic integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Digital Twins (DT) as a transformative paradigm to enhance project efficiency throughout the lifecycle of sustainable construction projects. Employing a qualitative research design rooted in a systematic literature review and library research, this paper critically examines recent scholarly contributions, technical frameworks, and industry reports across primary academic databases. The findings demonstrate that while static BIM serves as a robust digital repository for design and structural data, dynamic Digital Twins extend these capabilities by integrating real-time IoT sensor data, enabling predictive maintenance, continuous performance monitoring, and adaptive energy management. The integration bridges critical information gaps between pre-construction planning and post-occupancy facility management, thereby significantly reducing resource waste, carbon footprint, and life-cycle operational costs. Furthermore, this research identifies key technological, organizational, and interoperability challenges hindering widespread implementation and proposes an integrative strategic framework to mitigate these barriers. Ultimately, this paper underscores that combining static structural modeling with dynamic cyber-physical data streams is essential for achieving truly sustainable, smart, and resilient built environments, offering actionable insights for AEC practitioners and policymakers aiming to advance sustainable digital transformation.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Economic and Legal Issues

SMART CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR SAUDI VISION 2030 GIGA-PROJECTS: INTEGRATING BIM, RISK MANAGEMENT, AND DIGITAL SCHEDULING IN SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 has created one of the world’s most ambitious infrastructure delivery environments, where tourism, housing, mobility, utilities and public-realm assets must be delivered at speed while preserving quality, safety, environmental performance and long-term asset value. This review paper examines how smart construction project management can support Vision 2030 giga-projects by integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM), risk management and digital scheduling into a unified delivery governance model. The study synthesizes recent literature on BIM-enabled construction management, 4D scheduling, AI-supported schedule control, risk management in sustainable projects, contractual BIM governance, project management standards and the regenerative development agenda represented by Red Sea Global. The paper proposes an integrated framework in which BIM functions as the shared information environment, digital scheduling converts models into time-linked execution logic, risk management governs uncertainty, and project controls translate field data into leadership decisions. The review finds that the strongest value emerges when BIM, Primavera-style critical path scheduling, risk registers, HSE observations, procurement tracking, RFIs, change control and stakeholder reporting are managed as connected data streams rather than isolated administrative tools. For Saudi giga-projects, this integration can reduce design coordination gaps, improve visibility of schedule threats, support proactive risk response, enhance HSE and quality governance, and strengthen alignment with sustainability and local-content goals. The paper contributes a Vision 2030-oriented delivery model for construction leaders managing complex, multi-stakeholder infrastructure programs in Saudi Arabia and comparable rapidly developing economies.