Content area
Abstract
Construction products, such as roads, bridges, railways, irrigation, schools, hospitals, dwellings, offices and factories are an important element in the economy and in improving living standards. The importance of the industry is not only in its product, but also in the scale of the industry, its share in the national economy and how it affects society. The construction industry in developing countries should reflect this situation by applying the appropriate methods and technology. This includes the choice between labour intensive and equipment based construction techniques. However, the detailed way in which all these aspects interact is not well understood. This thesis describes research to integrate a variety of aspects in order to model different types of construction method used (labour intensive and equipment based methods) and their effects on a developing economy. Surveys and questionnaires were used to collect the data required in Indonesia. Soft systems methodology was used as preliminary model in order to show inter relationship of elements considered. This preliminary model was further developed using hard systems theory. The hard systems models produced consist of one system and seven sub systems model that represented the construction industry in Indonesia. The models were validated and calibrated against information obtained from the questionnaires. A series of Indonesian input-output tables (1985, 1990, 1995 and 1998) also were used to investigate the Indonesian construction industry from the macro economic perspective. The results of the model simulations using the models suggest that in an unrestricted industry labour intensive construction would generate three times as much income for the local population as would equipment based method. The results also indicate that a labour intensive method could employ eight times as much labour as would equipment based methods. However, when the industry was restricted by lack of professionals, severe reduction occur in the local labour force even when investment increases. A proposal is made to use the models as the basis for a decision support system to assist institutional decision about construction investment.