The future of international construction: some results of 1992-1999 surveys

Since 1992, eight annual opinion surveys of international construction activity have been conducted. The annual survey questionnaires are sent to key individuals concerned with construction activity in their own countries and internationally. The principal interest of the ECERU opinion survey is the predicted future development of construction activity worldwide. The survey is concerned with construction and economic development in general, and with specific questions relating to the global construction market over the next 25 years, 5 years and 12 months. This paper analyses and assesses some of the survey results, identifying future construction market trends at the regional, national and metropolitan level. The principal findings suggest that, at the regional level, the survey respondents generally share the survey's optimism about Asia and pessimism about Western Europe and Africa. However they disagree with the survey's pessimism about North America, East and Central Europe and South America. At the national and metropolitan level China and cities within China are considered noteworthy. The paper concludes that the Asian construction market is still at the focus of attention worldwide despite the problems following the Asian financial crisis.