Urban construction-based social risks assessment in hot arid countries with social network analysis

Abstract

Social consequences on urban development are becoming increasingly relevant in Kuwait. Social risks associated with urban construction projects have utmost level of uncertainty for community and their significance is growing tremendously. The study aims to assess social risks of urban construction projects by using social risk analysis theory in Kuwait. A case study was conducted in Kuwait, including 17 incidents of social disputes in construction projects, and 12 factors of social risk were evaluated. Based on literature review and reported cases in Kuwait, 08 stakeholders associated with key social risk factors were identified. A conceptual framework for the analysis of social risk was established taking into account the relationships among risks and stakeholders by using Gephi and UNICET. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from construction field. Thematic analysis was performed for social risks associated with construction engineering. The SNA model's analytical results revealed that social dangers were highly linked to challenges such as erroneous decision-making, poor reliability of government and government's inept/ineffective management. Structure difficulties and inadequate environmental protection were the riskiest elements in a complex setting, and they should be given special attention. Based on the results of the questionnaire, it was revealed that poor credibility of government had the most frequencies among the 12 other social risk factors, followed by government's lack management and improper decision making with equal proportions, site safety hazards and claim and compensation. Survey for stakeholders showed that government had the highest frequency which indicates that public and contractors are the most significant participants. The weighted degree of weighted degree of Social Risk and Stakeholders concluded that stakeholders set are the nodes with the highest weighted degree compared to Social Risk set. Moreover, the government, owner, contractor, designer, and the construction supervisor are the most weighted nodes in the stakeholder set, while communities, residents, and media are the least. Government's Lax/Improper Administration, Poor Credibility of Government, and Unsuitable Decision-Making have the most weighted degrees in the social risk set. According to centrality results, facilitators are the most important social risks with the highest capability of beginning a point of information to prevent a set of consequential social risks that has a direct effect on the general population. As a result of this role, they are the most crucial aspect in social risk management. In conclusion, the suggested social risk analysis approach can help project managers, government officials, and project owners pay more attention to social risk elements by providing a formal framework for analyzing such risks and minimizing social impacts.