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Subfield · Engineering

Building and Construction research

Building and Construction is a subfield of Engineering. Science Explorer counts 479k research works in it since 1950. 18.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: former West German trade union (1949–1995).

Research works
479k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
88k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
22
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+58%
the tick is no change

What is Building and Construction research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Construction, Durability Performance, Energy Simulation, Energy Efficiency, Building Energy Consumption, Thermal Comfort. Gaining share since 2009–13: Concrete Properties, Recycled Aggregate, 3D Printing, Concrete Extrusion, IoT. Losing share: Dyeing, Textiles, Mechanical Properties, City Logistics.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Construction29k◆ 1.02×2 topics
  2. Durability Performance23k◆ 1.09×2 topics
  3. Energy Simulation23k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  4. Energy Efficiency23k◆ 1.00×4 topics
  5. Building Energy Consumption20k▲ 1.16×1 topic
  6. Thermal Comfort20k▲ 1.16×1 topic
  7. Sustainability20k◆ 1.01×2 topics
  8. Deep Learning18k▲ 1.24×2 topics
  9. Urban Traffic18k▲ 1.24×2 topics
  10. Concrete Strengthening16k◆ 0.94×1 topic
  11. Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites16k◆ 0.94×1 topic
  12. BIM13k◆ 1.13×1 topic
  13. Prefabrication13k◆ 1.13×1 topic
  14. Short-Term Forecasting12k◆ 1.11×1 topic
  15. Traffic Flow12k◆ 1.11×1 topic
  16. 3D Printing11k▲ 1.62×1 topic
  17. Concrete Extrusion11k▲ 1.62×1 topic
  18. Sustainable Construction10k▲ 1.18×2 topics
  19. Circular Economy7,952◆ 1.04×2 topics
  20. Environmental Impact7,683▲ 1.22×2 topics
  21. Sustainable Development7,661◆ 0.95×2 topics
  22. Environmental Assessment Tools7,463◆ 1.15×1 topic
  23. Green Building7,463◆ 1.15×1 topic
  24. Concrete Properties7,396▲ 1.72×1 topic
  25. Recycled Aggregate7,396▲ 1.72×1 topic
  26. Mechanical Properties7,147▼ 0.83×2 topics
  27. Utilization7,104◆ 1.08×1 topic
  28. Waste Materials7,104◆ 1.08×1 topic
  29. Anaerobic Digestion6,725◆ 0.89×1 topic
  30. Biogas Production6,725◆ 0.89×1 topic
  31. City Logistics6,467▼ 0.83×1 topic
  32. Last Mile Delivery6,467▼ 0.83×1 topic
  33. IoT6,051▲ 1.61×1 topic
  34. Smart Parking6,051▲ 1.61×1 topic
  35. Mining Industry4,790▲ 1.19×1 topic
  36. Social License to Operate4,790▲ 1.19×1 topic
  37. Space Syntax4,361◆ 0.97×1 topic
  38. Street Networks4,361◆ 0.97×1 topic
  39. Dyeing4,318▼ 0.41×1 topic
  40. Textiles4,318▼ 0.41×1 topic

Which countries lead Building and Construction research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Building and Construction. By volume, China and India publish the most (31k and 11k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #1 all time 21.1% top 10% · 31k works
  2. 2 United States · #2 all time 15.9% top 10% · 9.2k works
  3. 3 India · #6 all time 12.9% top 10% · 11k works
  4. 4 United Kingdom · #3 all time 22.6% top 10% · 3.8k works
  5. 5 Australia · #4 all time 28.1% top 10% · 2.6k works
  6. 6 Italy · #5 all time 21.6% top 10% · 3.8k works
  7. 7 Hong Kong · #11 all time 36.8% top 10% · 1.2k works
  8. 8 Canada · #7 all time 18.6% top 10% · 2.6k works
  9. 9 Germany · #8 all time 14.1% top 10% · 3.3k works
  10. 10 Saudi Arabia · #28 all time 28.3% top 10% · 1.2k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 73 countries ranked in Building and Construction. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Building and Construction

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 31k works
  2. 2 India 11k works
  3. 3 United States 9.2k works
  4. 4 Brazil 4.4k works
  5. 5 Italy 3.8k works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 3.8k works
  7. 7 Indonesia 3.7k works
  8. 8 Türkiye 3.6k works
  9. 9 Germany 3.3k works
  10. 10 Russia 3.2k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 40.6%India: 13.9%United States: 12.0%Brazil: 5.7%6 others listed: 27.8%41%largest
China31k · 40.6%India11k · 13.9%United States9,216 · 12.0%Brazil4,372 · 5.7%6 others listed21k · 27.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Building and Construction research?

Tongji University (China) ranks first in Building and Construction on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Tsinghua University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Tongji University China · Shanghai · #2 all time 24.9% top 10% · 918 works
  2. 2 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong · Hong Kong · #1 all time 36.8% top 10% · 543 works
  3. 3 Tsinghua University China · Beijing · #3 all time 31.3% top 10% · 526 works
  4. 4 Southeast University China · Nanjing · #8 all time 26.3% top 10% · 739 works
  5. 5 Chongqing University China · Chongqing · #15 all time 28.1% top 10% · 425 works
  6. 6 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam · #7 all time 40.0% top 10% · 243 works
  7. 7 Harbin Institute of Technology China · Harbin · #24 all time 28.8% top 10% · 414 works
  8. 8 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #30 all time 28.0% top 10% · 330 works
  9. 9 Central South University China · Changsha · #46 all time 26.2% top 10% · 391 works
  10. 10 Hunan University China · Changsha · #19 all time 31.9% top 10% · 275 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 422 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Building and Construction.

Top 100 Building and Construction institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Tongji University China 918 works
  2. 2 Southeast University China 739 works
  3. 3 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 543 works
  4. 4 Tsinghua University China 526 works
  5. 5 Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology China 439 works
  6. 6 Politecnico di Milano Italy 429 works
  7. 7 Chongqing University China 425 works
  8. 8 Moscow State University of Civil Engineering Russia 417 works
  9. 9 Harbin Institute of Technology China 414 works
  10. 10 Beijing University of Technology China 404 works

Who are the leading researchers in Building and Construction?

Among the most productive authors in Building and Construction, Lídia Morawska, David Culler and Dirk Helbing rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Lídia Morawska Australia · #114 worldwide 6.4k citations · 210 works
  2. 2 David Culler United States · #182 worldwide 4.4k citations · 132 works
  3. 3 Dirk Helbing Switzerland · #1,135 worldwide 3k citations · 163 works
  4. 4 Moshe Ben‐Akiva United States · #2,168 worldwide 2.9k citations · 153 works
  5. 5 Yu Zheng China · #2,339 worldwide 2.5k citations · 78 works
  6. 6 Carlos Caldas United Kingdom · #2,558 worldwide 2k citations · 146 works
  7. 7 Joan Martínez Alier Spain · #3,206 worldwide 921 citations · 114 works
  8. 8 John L. Provis United Kingdom · #3,378 worldwide 2.8k citations · 93 works
  9. 9 Karen Scrivener Switzerland · #3,382 worldwide 2.4k citations · 110 works
  10. 10 Pétros Ioannou United States · #4,772 worldwide 2.4k citations · 147 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 5,397 highest-output authors in Building and Construction. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Building and Construction researchers

Where is Building and Construction research done?

The largest centres of Building and Construction research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Xi'an (China).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 5.3k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 2.3k works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 2.2k works
  4. 4 Xi'an China 1.5k works
  5. 5 Wuhan China 1.5k works
  6. 6 Guangzhou China 1.2k works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 1.1k works
  8. 8 Chennai India 1k works
  9. 9 Changsha China 994 works
  10. 10 Hong Kong China 977 works
See Building and Construction on the map

Building and Construction research by country

The best places for Building and Construction research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Building and Construction?

Among universities, judged by research, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, RMIT University and University of Hong Kong score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 24.32%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 543, 36.8%RMIT University: 181, 34.2%University of Hong Kong: 243, 40.0%Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology: 438, 22.4%Southeast University: 739, 26.3%Nanyang Technological University: 193, 32.3%Tongji University: 918, 24.9%Moscow State University of Civil Engineering: 417, 3.4%Higher Institute of Engineering: 90, 12.3%University of Moratuwa: 145, 10.6%University of Hong K…Hong Kong Polytechni…RMIT UniversityXi'an University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong 67.936.8%4.9×543 +18.3%
2RMIT University Australia 59.234.2%4.0×181 +100.6%
3University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 58.240.0%2.2×243 +33.3%
4Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology China 57.522.4%11.3×438 -40.0%
5Southeast University China 56.726.3%4.3×739 +50.5%
6Nanyang Technological University Singapore 56.732.3%1.9×193 +163.3%
7Tongji University China 56.624.9%5.6×918 -7.3%
8Moscow State University of Civil Engineering Russia 56.53.4%23.6×417 +994.7%
9Higher Institute of Engineering Egypt 56.512.3%10.7×90 +642.0%
10University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka 56.310.6%10.8×145 +387.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Building and Construction research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 58% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Construction Management and Sustainability, Recycled Aggregate Concrete Performance and Sustainable Building Design and Assessment.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Construction Management and Sustainability+2113%
  2. Recycled Aggregate Concrete Performance+340%
  3. Sustainable Building Design and Assessment+318%
  4. Smart Parking Systems Research+282%
  5. Building Energy and Comfort Optimization+274%
  6. Mining and Resource Management+251%
  7. Dyeing and Modifying Textile Fibers-1%
  8. Blasting Impact and Analysis-80%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Building and Construction include?

Building Energy and Comfort Optimization: 60k fractional worksStructural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete: 52k fractional worksBIM and Construction Int…45kBIM and Construction Integration: 45k fractional worksTraffic Prediction and M…38kTraffic Prediction and Management Techniques: 38k fractional worksInnovations in Concrete and Construction Materials: 34k fractional worksDyeing and Modifying Textile Fibers: 26k fractional worksRecycling and utilization of industrial and municipal waste in materials production: 25k fractional worksAnaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production: 24k fractional worksUrban and Freight Transport Logistics: 22k fractional worksSustainable Building Design and Assessment: 21k fractional worksRecycled Aggregate Concrete Performance: 19k fractional worksWood Treatment and Properties: 17k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.