Projects as protective spaces: Lessons from the construction project front-end for sustainability transitions

Abstract

Project organizing scholars have recently proposed shifting the sustainability discussion toward the role of projects as sustainability transition drivers. Whereas project research has mostly focused on the sustainable aspects of projects, the sustainability transitions literature conceptualizes and explains how radical changes related to sustainability occur in socio-technical systems. The front-end phase of construction projects offers a fruitful context for studying sustainability transitions, as plans and decisions about project execution are made at this stage, and the construction industry is a major contributor of CO2 emissions globally. As the transitions literature recognizes that innovations driving change are developed in niches, we recognize a need to study the front-end of individual construction projects with a clear sustainability agenda to better understand how the early stages of sustainability transitions may unfold within the construction industry. To do this, we conducted a qualitative case study of three interdependent construction projects within a city development program. We recognized several different sustainability practices applied by these projects to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and placed these practices in three categories according to their estimated industry-wide sustainability impact. These practices triggered changes in how the project actors collaborated during the front-end phase and developed the new practices needed, revealing niche-level mechanisms that may contribute to broader sustainability transition. Based on our observations, the front-end phase of construction projects is becoming increasingly important when new sustainability practices are being developed in niches, and cities may play a facilitating role in accelerating the sustainability transition.