Transition to a Sustainability-Oriented Construction Industry in China: A Critical Analysis from the Multi-Level Perspective

Since the Chinese construction industry has huge impacts on China’s economy, society and environment, the sustainability of this industry is very important. Scholars have explored the sustainability drivers and barriers of the Chinese construction industry, trying to help it transition to a sustainability-oriented industry. However, few of them succeeded in offering a systematic approach to respond to the complexity of the sustainability transition issue. This paper aims at introducing the multi-level perspective from the socio-technical transition research into the research field of the construction industry, to systematically analyse the sustainability transition issue of the Chinese construction industry. Based on the multi-level perspective, the drivers and barriers are assessed. The results show that various elements in the construction industry, such as the corporations, policy, technology, and culture, coevolve and have multi-dimensional interactions, and various drivers and barriers of sustainability coexist and intertwined. To facilitate the sustainability transition process, systematic instruments are needed.