Rural Infrastructure Lifecycle Inclusiveness Impact Path Analysis: Combining Logical Framework and Structural Equation Modeling

The rural infrastructures require inclusiveness in the whole lifecycle (WLC) for the benefits of the society. The theory of inclusive growth has been widely studied since its introduction in the infrastructure system research. However, the majority of the related studies has focused on macro level measurements and no systematic research has been carried out on the microlevel for inclusiveness formation and impact path discovery so that detailed recommendations regarding the process can be formulated. The WLC of infrastructure is a dynamic process, reflected in different stages with various activities and multiple factor groups that connect and influence each other. To address and analyze this dynamic and interdependent process from a micro perspective, this study applies the logical framework method in constructing nine impact paths of rural infrastructure inclusiveness for the WLC, which revealed the influence mechanism of rural infrastructure inclusiveness at the microlevel. According to the results, "project quality"has the most significant influence on the rural infrastructure inclusiveness.Design & Construction Managemen

Impact of Home-Based Learning Experience During COVID-19 on Future Intentions to Study Online: A Chinese University Perspective

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) swept the world in early 2020, all the Chinese universities and colleges adopted online learning to fulfill the directive saying “classes suspended but learning continues.” Understanding the impact of this large-scale online learning experience on the future online learning intention of Chinese university students can help design better blended-learning activities. This study applies flow experience and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to construct a theoretical framework for assumption making and the assumptions made are validated by data gained from questionnaires. A total of 6,933 students from 54 institutions in China participated in the investigation, with 5,456 valid questionnaires returned. This study employs partial least squares (PLS) regression and confirmative factor analysis (CFA) to analyze and estimate the measurement model and the structural model. The results indicate that the experience of home-based learning significantly influenced the attitudes of Chinese university students, which in turn had a positive influence on their intention to continue online learning. The research findings provide a theoretical framework and practical guidelines on building a scientific online learning platform with appropriate online learning environments and tasks for a post-COVID-19 era blended-learning in Chinese universities.Design & Construction Managemen

What Determines’ BIM Competition Results of Undergraduate Students in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industry?

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become the development trend in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. BIM discipline competition is an effective way for students of AEC-related disciplines to integrate theory with practice, and it is a key link to cultivate qualified BIM practitioners. This study takes participants of the 8th National College BIM Graduation Design Innovation Competition as the research objects. The Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior are combined to build a driving factor model of the competitions. Contestants of the competition were asked to complete online questionnaires, and 451 valid samples were finally obtained. Structural Equation Modeling was used to fit the theoretical model, and it was found that: Behavioral Intention to use BIM is directly and positively affected by Attitude, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Perceived Usefulness, as well as indirectly and positively affected by Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Eased of Usefulness. Competition Results is directly and positively affected by Behavioral Intention to use BIM, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Facilitating Conditions. It is also indirectly and positively affected by Attitude, Perceived Behavior Control, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Eased of Usefulness. The results show that the situation of students’ participation in BIM competition can be optimized by increasing the publicity and promotion of BIM and related policies, strengthening the construction of supporting teaching facilities, building the integrated curriculum system of BIM technology, and strengthening teacher training. This study provides a theoretical reference for further BIM practice, and it would help improve the corresponding teaching organization and enhance the internal drive of students’ BIM learning.Design & Construction Managemen

Resource Allocation Equity in the China’s Rural Three-Tier Healthcare System

The rural three-tier healthcare system is an essential part of the Chinese healthcare service system. To ensure rural residents’ equal access to such healthcare services, it is necessary to examine the current status of the healthcare system in rural China and formulate corresponding improvement suggestions. This study therefore collects the data from the China Health Statistics Yearbook, the China Health Yearbook and the China Statistical Yearbook between the years 2004 and 2021 to calculate the Gini coefficient (G), health resource density index (HRDI) and Theil index (T) first, and then perform the Mann–Kendall test afterwards to evaluate the equity of healthcare resource allocation comprehensively. This series of analysis helps in drawing the following conclusions: (1) county and county-level city medical and health institutions (CMHIs) show a higher development trend in comparison with township hospitals (THs) and village clinics (VCs); (2) VCs have higher institutional fairness, while for beds and personnel, CMHIs and THs are more fairly positioned; (3) more specifically for CMHIs and THs, personnel allocation is more fair than beds and institution allocations; (4) the density of healthcare resources in the eastern and central regions is higher than that in the western part, while the intra-regional distribution of beds and personnel in the west and central regions is better than that in the eastern region; (5) intra-regional differences are more significant than inter-regional differences and the fairness according to population distribution is higher than that of geographical area allocation. The results of this study provide theoretical basis for further optimizing the allocation of healthcare resources and improving the fairness of healthcare resources allocation from a macro perspective.Design & Construction Managemen

Influences of the Built Environment on Rural School Children’s Travel Mode Choice: The Case of Chengdu

Since the reform and opening up of China, the rural built environment has changed dramatically. There is a need to understand how such changes have impacted rural children’s school travel mode choice to design the built environment and plan schools accordingly. This paper combines field measurement methods and questionnaires to obtain data on rural children’s school travel behavior and uses the multinomial logit (MNL) model to investigate the impacting factors. The results show the following insights: Age has a significant positive impact on children’s choice of bicycles and buses. The improvements in road layout and facility conditions are significantly and positively associated with children’s choice of electric bicycles for school. There is a significant positive correlation between a good and safe public environment and children’s choice of cycling. Furthermore, distance from home to school has a significant impact on the choice of children’s school travel mode: the greater the distance to school, the higher the probability that children will choose motorized modes of travel such as buses and private cars. This study provides empirical data and evidence in designing rural transport systems for school children based on their preferences concerning built environment factors.Design & Construction Managemen

The Impact of Public Opinion Pressure on Construction Company Green Innovations: The Mediating Effect of Leaders' Environmental Intention and the Moderating Effect of Environmental Regulation

Media has paid more attention recently on environmental issues caused by construction companies which imposes public opinion pressure on construction companies and could potentially impact their decision-making processes for green innovations. However, research on the relationship between public opinions pressure and construction company green innovation behavior is still limited. To understand how such public opinions pressure can impact construction companies' green transition and formulate advice accordingly, it is necessary to use empirical data to find the correlations. Therefore, this research has gathered questionnaire data of the construction companies in Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle of China to study the influencing mechanism of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior, analyzes the realization path of leaders' environmental intention as a mediating variable in the impact of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior, and reveals the role boundary of environmental regulation as a moderating variable in the impact of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior. The results show that environmental public opinion pressure has a significant positive impact on enterprise green innovation behavior. More specifically, enterprise green innovation behavior is affected by leaders' environmental intention and the latter plays a partial mediating role between environmental public opinion pressure and enterprise green innovation behavior. Environmental regulation also enhances the sensitivity of companies to environmental public opinion pressure, and therefore can significantly strengthen the relationship between environmental public opinion pressure and enterprise green innovation behavior. Further research find that, compared with incentive-based environmental regulations, mandatory environmental regulations make companies more sensitive to environmental public opinion pressure and has a more significant positive moderating effect. The research conclusions could be used to provide theoretical reference with empirical data for accelerating the green innovation transformation and promoting the high-quality development in the construction industry.Design & Construction Managemen

Built Environment Impacts on Rural Residents’ Daily Travel Satisfaction

The rapid urbanization in China urges scholars to investigate the impacts of built environment on the level of travel satisfaction of rural residents to improve their quality of life and make planning exercises more human-centric. This study samples six villages out of the 25 top rural areas in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, as the research object and constructs a structural equation model to explore the direct and indirect impacts of the built environment on daily travel satisfaction of rural residents. The research finds that building density (0.609), road density (0.569), the number of accessible markets (0.314), and private car ownership (0.02) have significant positive impacts on travel satisfaction. Public transport (−0.063) has a direct negative impact on travel satisfaction. Consequently, in order to further improve travel satisfaction, construction departments and rural planners should improve the building and road densities of new rural areas and increase the number of accessible markets. The convenience of rural public transport services also needs improvement.Design & Construction Managemen

The built environment impacts on route choice from home to school for rural students: A stated preference experiment

Introduction: Rural roads and built environment in China have been developed enormously, but it is not clear whether these roads fulfill the needs of school children as they need to travel long to school every day.Objective: It is crucial to understand the influencing factors of their travel mode choices to better design future country roads and built environment, aiming to promote physical activities of school children in a safe built environment.Method: This study thus attempts to explore the impacts of rural built environment attributes on children's school travel mode preferences. Eight rural built environment attributes are considered: distance from home to school; the number of intersections passed on the way to school; whether there are sidewalks/bicycle lanes; the traffic speed of school access routes; whether there are separation facilities between motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles; whether there are traffic lights and zebra crossings; availability of greenery such as lawns, flower ponds and street trees and whether there are shops on the way to school and at the school gate. Six hundred and thirty eight valid questionnaires were obtained through face-to-face interviews with school-age children in villages. A multinomial logit model was estimated to unravel the preferences and choices of rural school-age children in different models of school travel using the stated choice data.Results: All the eight attributes have significant impacts on rural children's school travel choices on foot, bicycle, electric bicycle or motorbike. And four rural road design attributes have significant effects on rural children's school travel by private cars. A travel path with pavements or bike lanes, few intersections, low traffic speeds, greenery and shops can facilitate children's school travels on foot or by bike. The conclusions can provide reference for the further upgrading planning, designing and construction of rural roads, as well as enriching the theory and practice of child-friendly villages construction.Design & Construction Managemen

Households’ Earthquake Disaster Preparedness Behavior: The Role of Trust in and Help From Stakeholders

Earthquake is one of the most serious natural disasters. Taking scientific and reasonable earthquake preparedness measures can effectively reduce casualties and economic losses caused by earthquakes. It is important to understand how residents choose such earthquake preparedness measures to guide them accordingly. However, the current research has failed to address rural areas in developing countries and has inconsistency conclusions for two aspects related to stakeholders involved: the assistance the victims can get from stakeholders for applying earthquake preparedness measures and the trust in stakeholders’ disaster relief abilities. In this study, the rural residents affected by Wenchuan earthquake, Ya’an earthquake and Yibin earthquake were taken as the research objects, and 674 valid questionnaires were obtained through field household surveys. A Multinominal Logit Model (MNL) was constructed to explore the influence of villagers’ trust in the disaster relief ability of stakeholders and the help they can get from stakeholders on their preparedness behavior. The results show that the less trust the villagers have on the government and the community, and the more help they can get from the outside while preparing measures, the more inclined they are to take the disaster preparedness measures. Furthermore, the education level of villagers in earthquake-stricken areas has significant positive impacts on people’s earthquake preparedness behavior. People who are not born in rural areas are more likely to take earthquake preparedness measures. In addition, male, young and married villagers are more likely to take earthquake preparedness measures in their daily lives. This study enriches the theory of rural disaster prevention and mitigation, and provides reference for the practice of disaster prevention and mitigation in earthquake-stricken rural areas.Design & Construction Managemen

Building Information Modeling Learning Behavior of AEC Undergraduate Students in China

With the popularization and application of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the demand for BIM technical talents in the construction industry is increasing. Exploring college students’ BIM technical learning behavior is of great practical significance to improve education activities. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), this research adds learning attitude variables to construct a theoretical model of influencing factors of college students’ BIM technology learning behavior. Chinese undergraduate students were asked to complete online questionnaires through peer-to-peer contact with sample colleges and universities. Finally, 1090 valid questionnaires were obtained. The students were sampled from research-oriented, applied research-oriented, application-oriented, and private research-oriented universities in seven regions of China: northeast, north, east, south, central, northwest, and southwest. The structural equation model was used to analyze the sampling data. The results indicate that college students’ BIM learning attitude, performance expectations, and social influence positively and directly impact their learning intention, which indirectly impacts their learning behavior. At the same time, promoting factors and learning intention demonstrate a significant positive and direct impact on learning behavior. Therefore, the following suggestions have been put forward to enhance college students’ learning motivation for BIM technology: increase the popularization of BIM technology in colleges and universities and improve the operation level of full-time BIM teachers. The latter enables colleges and universities to continuously and stably export qualified BIM technical talents to society and the market, resulting in a continuous industry development cycleDesign & Construction Managemen