Xiao, J; Guo, M; Zhang, M; Liu, Q; Du, Y and Zhang, L (2024) A comparative analysis of Chinese green building policies from the central and local perspectives using LDA and SNA. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 20(5), pp. 1037-1059. ISSN 1745-2007
Abstract
China’s construction, energy consumption, and emissions are the world’s largest, making green building (GB) crucial for sustainable development and climate action. GB policies play a crucial role in promoting sustainable development and mitigating environmental impacts. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of China’s GB policies at both central and local levels using natural language processing (NLP), Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), and semantic network analysis (SNA). It also integrates three theoretical frameworks: Policy Implementation Theory, Sustainable Development Theory, and Innovation Diffusion Theory. The study aims to: (1) compare the characteristics of central and local GB policies; (2) identify problems and propose solutions to improve policy effects and impacts. The results show that both levels of policies cover various sustainability aspects but with different focuses. The SNA reveals the semantic relationships and differences within the policy documents. The study suggests several strategies to enhance GB policy effectiveness and sustainability, based on the three theoretical frameworks. These strategies include providing more specific guidance, enhancing financial support and incentives, promoting technological advancements, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, adopting a more systematic approach, democratizing policy formulation, identifying key stakeholders and influencers, and considering innovation characteristics. This study contributes to the GB policy research and practice in China. It is also the first study to use NLP, LDA, and SNA to comprehensively analyze China’s GB policies, and the first study to apply the three theoretical frameworks to GB policy analysis.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | green building; innovation diffusion theory; latent dirichlet allocation; natural language processing; policy analysis; policy implementation theory; semantic network analysis; sustainable development theory; China |
| Index terms: | network analysis, innovation diffusion, policy analysis, strategy, sustainable development, policy research, comparative analysis, energy consumption, monitoring, policy implementation, green building, environmental impact, strengthening, effectiveness, documents, sustainability aspect, China |
| Subjects: | policy studies, environmental impact, control systems, energy systems, data analysis and analytics, sustainability assessment, management, design practice, structural engineering, performance management, health safety and environment, Geography, professional development, research management, sociology |
| Topics: | Site Management, Quality Management, Design Practice, Sustainability, Governance, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here