Abdel Aziz, A. M. (2023). Statistical Analysis and Representation Models of Working-Days Liquidated Damages. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(7). https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-13330
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Abstract
Contractors tend to challenge the enforceability of liquidated damages (LDs), claiming they are unreasonable, excessive, penalty statements, or concurrently caused. States customarily assert that the LD rates are a genuine reflection of the expenses expected to be suffered when a project gets delayed due to noncompletion. While there are common practices among the states for articulating LD specifications, which generally follow the Federal Code of Regulations, there are no published studies that assist states in comparing their LD rates to those of other states so that the LD rates might be defended. Further, there are no studies that offer models that would uncover the relationship between the LD rates and the contract sizes so that the LD rates might be justified. This work addresses such gaps in the body of knowledge (BOK) in LDs. With emphasis on the working-days (WD) LD rate schedules, the objectives of this work are to characterize the LD rate schedules across the states and to model a formula(s) that would represent the relationship between the WD LD rates and the contract amounts. The data set for the work represents the LD schedules in the standard specifications of all departments of transportation in the United States. Descriptive and cluster statistical analyses were used for the LD rate characterization. For model development, several linear and nonlinear regression models were employed. The results highlighted considerable LDs variability in the smaller contract sizes and exceptional LD rates stability in the larger sizes. Despite the economic differences among the states, it is found that the LD rate is, on average, 0.02 ¢/$ for projects $20 million or above. Below that, the rate increases between 0.03 ¢/$ and 0.18 ¢/$ until the contracts reach $750,000. LD rates tend to decrease sharply with the increase in contract sizes, forming an L or reverse J shape. This pattern proved complex, and only nonlinear regression with transformed variables successfully modeled it. Credible models were obtained after satisfying the least-squares regression assumptions. The work contributes to the BOK by adding a new statistical dimension to understanding LDs and developing regression model(s) that explain the relationships between the LD rates and the contract sizes. The work should help SHAs create, evaluate, and justify their LD rates.
Dermisi, S. (2023). Office Development. In R. Peiser & D. Hamilton (Eds.), Professional Real Estate Development: The ULI Guide to the Business. Urban Land Institute.
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Abstract
The office chapter, authored by Dr. Sofia Dermisi -Lyon and Wolff Endowed Professor in Real Estate and Professor of Urban Design & Planning, identifies ways the technological and structural sustainability boundaries are pushed and how the pandemic has shifted the office occupant expectations on health and well-being, while embracing alternative ways of working through flexibility and adaptability. Office case studies highlight creative ways of linking new with historic landmark structures, overcoming various development challenges, and integrating valuable features in a post-covid era. Additionally, the evolution and repositioning of retail due to the rise of e-commerce and its impact on brick-and-mortar stores provides insights on future trends. While consumer behavior trends, which accelerated during the pandemic, created the emergence of new types of industrial facilities.
Ottesen, Jeffrey L., & Migliaccio, Giovanni (2023). Use of Predictive Models for Labor-Productivity Loss in Settling Disputes. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 15(1).
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Abstract
Given inherent difficulties in construction, optimizing labor efficiencies is paramount to project success. Research described in this article conducted demonstrates that an analysis of planned activities in a critical path methodology (CPM) schedule may be used to forecast future productivity inefficiencies. Specifically, this study relies on the concept of CPM schedule’s density, which is defined as the number of overlapping like-trade activities on any given workday. This metric is directly related to the required labor resources required to complete that work within the activities’ planned durations. Schedule density increases where more planned activities overlap with each other; for instance, occurrence of such increases is common when the schedule is accelerated. Regression models were derived using metrics drawn from CPM schedule updates’ activities and durations and compared to actual labor productivity experienced. Strong correlation findings support development of predictive models that quantify potential labor inefficiencies before they occur. However, the question remains as to the strength and applicability of predictive models in formal litigation. This paper presents findings of this research and discusses how such findings may be used to facilitate settlement in dispute resolution procedures.
Keywords
Lee, Sungmin, Lee, Chanam, Won Nam, Ji, Vernez Moudon, Anne, & Mendoza, Jason A. (2023). Street Environments and Crime around Low-income and Minority Schools: Adopting an Environmental Audit Tool to Assess Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). Landscape and Urban Planning, 232.
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Abstract
• CPTED principles have been applied in school neighborhood safety. • Multiple crime types had significant associations with CPTED principles. • The cleanliness of streets and visual quality of buildings can reduce crime. • Being adjacent to multi-family housing and bus stops can increase crime. • The findings add to the evidence supporting the effectiveness of CPTED initiatives. Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) suggests an association between micro-scale environmental conditions and crime, but little empirical research exists on the detailed street-level environmental features associated with crime near low-income and minority schools. This study focuses on the neighborhoods around 14 elementary schools serving lower income populations in Seattle, WA to assess if the distribution of crime incidences (2013–2017) is linked with the street-level environmental features that reflect CPTED principles. We used a total of 40 audit variables that were included in the four domains derived from the broken windows theory and CPTED principles: natural surveillance (e.g., number of windows, balconies, and a sense of surveillance), territoriality (e.g., crime watch signs, trees), image/maintenance (e.g., graffiti and a sense of maintenance/cleanness), and geographical juxtaposition (e.g., bus stops, presence of arterial). We found that multiple crime types had significant associations with CPTED components at the street level. Among the CPTED domains, two image/maintenance features (i.e., maintenance of streets and visual quality of buildings) and two geographical juxtaposition features (i.e., being adjacent to multi-family housing and bus stops) were consistently associated with both violent and property crime. The findings suggest that local efforts to improve maintenance of streets and visual quality of buildings and broader planning efforts to control specific land uses near schools are important to improve safety in marginalized neighborhoods near schools that tend to be more vulnerable to crime. Our research on micro-scale environmental determinants of crime can also serve as promising targets for CPTED research and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Keywords
CPTED; Crime; Environmental audit; Micro-scale environment of Crime; Street environments
Shi, Xiao; Richards, Mary; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Lee, Brian H. Y.; Shen, Qing; & Ban, Xuegang. (2022). Changes in Perceived Work-from-Home Productivity during the Pandemic: Findings from Two Waves of a Covid-19 Mobility Survey. Findings.
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Abstract
A two-wave survey of workers in Seattle revealed an increase in self-reported work productivity over time for those who shifted to work from home (WFH) since the outbreak of Covid-19. Teleworkers with higher household income adapted better and were more likely to report an increase in productivity as they continued WFH. While those living with friends and relatives were more likely to report a decrease in productivity as they telework for longer. Commute trip reduction programs might encourage the portion of the population with such characteristics to continue WFH after the pandemic subsides and provide support to those with fewer recourses to telework productively if they choose to.
Keywords
work from home; teleworking; work productivity; commute trip reduction; transportation demand management; natural experiment; covid-19
Shi, Xiao; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Lee, Brian H. Y.; Shen, Qing; Ban, Xuegang (Jeff). (2020). Factors Influencing Teleworking Productivity – a Natural Experiment during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Findings.
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Abstract
Of 2174 surveyed adults who were teleworking following the implementation of a Covid-19 work-from-home policy, 23.8% reported an increase in productivity, 37.6% no change, and 38.6% a decrease in productivity compared to working at their prior workplace. After controlling for feelings of depression and anxiety likely caused by pandemic-related circumstances, the socioeconomic characteristics associated with no change or an increase in productivity after shifting to teleworking included being older; not employed in higher education; having lower education attainment; and not living with children. Respondents with longer commute trips in single-occupancy vehicles prior to teleworking were more likely to be more productive but those with longer commute by walking were not. Lifestyle changes associated with increased productivity included better sleep quality, spending less time on social media, but more time on personal hobbies.
Shen, Qing; Xu, Simin; Lin, Jiang. (2017). Effects of Bus Transit-oriented Development (BTOD) on Single-family Property Value in Seattle Metropolitan Area. Urban Studies, 55(13).
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Abstract
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is considered to be a powerful model intended to achieve sustainable urban development. A well-designed TOD enhances the accessibility of different kinds of activities, reduces transportation costs and improves the comfort and safety of travel for the neighbourhood as whole, thereby increasing the willingness to pay for real estate properties located nearby. This study examines the housing price premiums of bus transit-oriented development (BTOD), a particular type of TOD that has become quite common in practice, especially in cities where public transportation is provided primarily through a bus system instead of a metro or light rail system. BTOD projects are built at major nodes of a bus network and typically include housing units and commercial services. Our research focuses on four completed BTODs in the Seattle metropolitan area, and employs data on sales prices, physical attributes, neighbourhood characteristics and location features for almost 7000 single-family homes located within a 1.5-mile radius. Using Hedonic price analysis, we find that these BTODs have generated significant positive effects on the values of adjacent homes, especially those located within 0.5 miles. Results from a more sophisticated longitudinal analysis using the data for Renton, one of the BTODs, confirm the price premiums while gaining additional insights about the temporal variations. These findings have an important policy implication, which is especially relevant for cities with an extensive bus transit system: local governments can generate additional tax revenues while advancing sustainability through bus transit-oriented developments.
Colburn, G., & Page Aldern, C. (2022). Homelessness is a Housing Problem. University Of California Press.
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Steven C. Bourassa is H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair of the Runstad Department of Real Estate in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Previously, he served as department chair at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Auckland, and the University of Louisville, where he was KHC Real Estate Research Professor. His research focuses on urban housing and land markets and policy, covering a range of topics including housing tenure, residential property valuation, property taxation, housing affordability, low-income housing policy, community land trusts, and public land leasehold. He has published his research in numerous real estate and related journals, such as the Journal of Housing Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Real Estate Research, and Journal of Urban Economics, as well as Real Estate Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Urban Studies. His co-edited book, Leasing Public Land: Policy Debates and International Experiences, was published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Dr. Bourassa is on the editorial boards of eight real estate journals. He is a Fellow of the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics and received the Research Achievement Award from the International Real Estate Society, of which he is a past President. He is currently Treasurer of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. He holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.