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PurposeThe purpose of this research is to investigate ethnic differences in perceptions of social responsibility, in relation to flooding, for householders, local businesses and policy makers.Design/methodology/approachThe data were obtained via a questionnaire survey of three communities in Birmingham and one community in South East London, UK. A total of 481 responses were received and used in the statistical analysis. The interpretation of the findings was aided by cognitive mapping to synthesise the data transcripts from 174 responses to the open‐ended questions. Comparisons were made between communities in different locations and with different experience of flooding.FindingsEthnic differences consistently exist within the perceptions of householder and business groups within communities (in different locations) which have recent experience of flooding, but not in the policy maker group or in a community without recent flood experience. The finding also suggests three different levels of resilience and their association with different ethnic groups.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should conduct further analysis with equal ethnic representation throughout each community group so that more ethnic groups can be investigated and compared. For a more comprehensive understanding, further investigation should be conducted across different communities in different countries with different environmental hazards.Practical implicationsThe findings contribute to the understanding of the influence of demographic factors in disaster management field, and can provide useful knowledge for targeted and tailored strategies of communication of flood information.Originality/valueThe research represents the first attempt to investigate ethnic differences in perceptions of social responsibility of householders, small businesses and policy makers for the community resilience to flooding.

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Elsevier under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Full details of this licence are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd-4.0/. This paper was presented at the 3rd SCESCM International Conference on Sustainable Civil Engineering Structures and Construction Materials, September 5th-7th 2016, Bali, Indonesia: http://conference.tsipil.ugm.ac.id/scescm/ ; Since the publication of the Conseil International du Bâtiment or CIB's Agenda 21, local government has become an agent of change to achieve sustainability in development policy-making, including implementation of building standards. The Indonesian Earthquake-Resistant Building Standard was recently revised after considering sustainability and earthquake damage reduction methods by drawing on lessons learnt from past earthquakes. However, the willingness of building practitioners and local authorities to deal with those changes, particularly on the budget implications of project execution and appropriate procurement mechanisms, has raised a number of issues. Several of these stem from the lack of awareness and consistency in educating practitioners and officials. As a consequence, the implementation of the new standard has been slow and problematic. This paper presents a case study the impact of implementing and retrofitting a new earthquake resistance standard in a public hospital building in the middle of project execution. The research undertook structural simulation and field observation on an eight-storey public hospital building in Indonesia. The research found that the capabilities of contractors and awareness of local authorities of dynamical changes of policy implementation affected the project success. The analysis suggests that empirical guidance by the local authority is required for practical adjustments in governing retrofitting procedures in public building management.

Numerous fast-growing coastal cities in the Global South are exposed to coastal, fluvial and pluvial floods, as a consequence of decades-long rapid urbanisation and weak enforcement of planning regulations. Integrating Blue&ndash ; Green Infrastructure (BGI) concepts into the development of the urban landscape has the potential to increase flood resilience and offer broader environmental benefits. BGI is an innovative approach that combines water management and green infrastructure to maintain natural water cycles and enhance environmental and urban renewal. This paper identifies socio-economic, cultural and political challenges influencing BGI adoption in Semarang city in Indonesia. Data was collected from residents of three communities through interviews (n=30), questionnaires (n=180) and focus groups with policymakers and community representatives. The combined quantitative and qualitative data provide an understanding of the specific socio-economic, cultural and political issues at play and reveal flood experience as well as perceptions of community members regarding flood management. Challenges are presented from the point of view of residents and local policymakers and are based on a framework for facilitating local BGI adoption, setting the principles of &ldquo ; inclusive&rdquo ; &ldquo ; appropriate&rdquo ; and &ldquo ; proactive&rdquo ; as pre-conditions for enhancing community resilience to flooding.

This is a conference paper. ; Due to complex projects and diverse risks, schedule delay has always been one of the major problems in high-speed rail construction. Chinese infrastructure companies are the main force of the international market after the Chinese government implemented the One Belt and One Road initiative (OBOR). Currently, more than 10 international engineer-procure-construct high-speed rail (IEPCHSR) projects are being considered or undertaken overseas by Chinese companies. However, delay has severe consequences for the progress of most IEPCHSR projects. The aim of this study is to identify the significant delay factors for IEPCHSR projects. This study was conducted as an exploratory study through literature review and semi-structured interview with seven managers from Chinese IEPCHSR related companies. Result reveals that some delay factors concluded from general international infrastructure projects are also applicable in IEPCHSR projects. In the engineering phase, inappropriate management in design management, inefficient land acquisition, design changes and lack of EPC subsidiary contract management for HSR projects are likely to cause delays. In the procurement phase, improper procurement prepared, under-estimated procurement price, unreliable agency, inefficient logistics in equipment and labour are leading causes. In the construction phase, the significant delay factors are improper construction task planning, inexperienced site supervision, ineffective technical standard management and ineffective continuous progress payment. Further study will analyse their interrelationships with Chinese construction companies using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The result from this study should enable the Chinese HSR practitioners to gain a better understanding of the inter-relationships between the different potential delay factors.

This is an Open Access Article. It is published by MDPI under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; Numerous fast-growing coastal cities in the Global South are exposed to coastal, fluvial and pluvial floods, as a consequence of decades-long rapid urbanisation and weak enforcement of planning regulations. Integrating Blue–Green Infrastructure (BGI) concepts into the development of the urban landscape has the potential to increase flood resilience and offer broader environmental benefits. BGI is an innovative approach that combines water management and green infrastructure to maintain natural water cycles and enhance environmental and urban renewal. This paper identifies socio-economic, cultural and political challenges influencing BGI adoption in Semarang city in Indonesia. Data was collected from residents of three communities through interviews (n=30), questionnaires (n=180) and focus groups with policymakers and community representatives. The combined quantitative and qualitative data provide an understanding of the specific socio-economic, cultural and political issues at play and reveal flood experience as well as perceptions of community members regarding flood management. Challenges are presented from the point of view of residents and local policymakers and are based on a framework for facilitating local BGI adoption, setting the principles of "inclusive", "appropriate" and "proactive" as pre-conditions for enhancing community resilience to flooding.