IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i15p6271-d1440555.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Six Connotations of Sustainability in Civil and Construction Engineering: A Corpus Linguistics Study

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaomei Wang

    (Civil and Construction Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

  • Andrew South

    (Civil and Construction Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

  • Brett Hashimoto

    (Department of Linguistics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

  • Clifton Farnsworth

    (Civil and Construction Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA)

Abstract

This research explores the historic use of the concept of sustainability in civil engineering academic literature and identifies its conceptual evolution and connotative treatment over the last 40 years. We find that academic research addressing sustainability is exponentially increasing and that the focus on sustainability is enlarging from a primarily environmental perspective to include more social elements. Additionally, we propose a set of six connotations of sustainability: assessment, progress, permanence, abstractness, multidimensional, and intersectional. These connotations provide conceptual clarity for academics and practitioners in better-defining sustainability objectives and measuring outcomes. These connotations also promote more efficient collaboration with other necessary disciplines in the pursuit of project and societal-level goals. The research employs a novel use of computational corpus linguistics in CCE to identify and examine patterns of collocates associated with the word sustainability in a corpus of 335,020 peer-reviewed civil and construction engineering (CCE) scholarly abstracts published between 1981 and 2021. Demonstrating this research method is a contribution to CCE researchers systematically extracting meaning from large volumes of literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaomei Wang & Andrew South & Brett Hashimoto & Clifton Farnsworth, 2024. "Six Connotations of Sustainability in Civil and Construction Engineering: A Corpus Linguistics Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-18, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6271-:d:1440555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6271/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6271/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Metzger & Phil Allmendinger & Martin Kornberger, 2021. "Ideology in practice: the career of sustainability as an ideological concept in strategic urban planning," International Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 302-320, July.
    2. Sylvia Tippmann, 2015. "Programming tools: Adventures with R," Nature, Nature, vol. 517(7532), pages 109-110, January.
    3. Satu Elo & Maria Kääriäinen & Outi Kanste & Tarja Pölkki & Kati Utriainen & Helvi Kyngäs, 2014. "Qualitative Content Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(1), pages 21582440145, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Harpreet Sohal & Lisa Huddlestone & Elena Ratschen, 2016. "Preparing for Completely Smoke-Free Mental Health Settings: Findings on Patient Smoking, Resources Spent Facilitating Smoking Breaks, and the Role of Smoking in Reported Incidents from a Large Mental ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Leah M. Haverhals, 2022. "How Social Determinants of Health of Individuals Living or Working in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Home-Based Long-Term Care Programs in Puerto Rico Influenced Recovery after Hurricane Maria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    3. David Mhlanga, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence in the Industry 4.0, and Its Impact on Poverty, Innovation, Infrastructure Development, and the Sustainable Development Goals: Lessons from Emerging Economies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Rebecca Balasa & Julie Chartrand & Katherine Moreau & Kelley Tousignant & Kaylee Eady, 2021. "Patients’ and parents’ perspectives of and experiences with assessing nursing students’ paediatric clinical practice," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1-2), pages 217-228, January.
    5. Pernille Maria Wodskou & Sasha Maria Reinhardt & Marie Borring Andersen & Stig Molsted & Lone Helle Schou, 2021. "Motivation, Barriers, and Suggestions for Intradialytic Exercise—A Qualitative Study among Patients and Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-12, October.
    6. Ahmed Imran KABIR & Suraya AKTER & Sriman MITRA, 2021. "Students Engagement Detection in Online Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic Using R Programming Language," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(3), pages 26-37.
    7. Song, Bingjie & Robinson, Guy M. & Bardsley, Douglas K. & Xue, Yanlong & Wang, Bing, 2023. "Multifunctional agriculture in a peri-urban fringe: Chinese farmers’ responses to shifts in policy and changing socio-economic conditions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    8. Rafaela Garbelini Anuardo & Maximilian Espuny & Ana Carolina Ferreira Costa & Ana Lígia Gil Espuny & Yiğit Kazançoğlu & Jayakrishna Kandsamy & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2023. "Transforming E-Waste into Opportunities: Driving Organizational Actions to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-21, September.
    9. Ernesto Antonini & Jacopo Gaspari & Cristina Visconti, 2021. "Collaborative Learning Experiences in a Changing Environment: Innovative Educational Approaches in Architecture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    10. Pajaree Ackaradejruangsri & Atthaphon Mumi & Sirirat Rattanapituk & Pijak Pakhunwanich, 2023. "Exploring the Determinants of Young Inclusive Leadership in Thailand: Research Taxonomy and Theoretical Framework," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 3696-3723, December.
    11. Helena Gutmane, 2023. "A Bourdieusian Framework for Understanding Public Space Heritage Transformations: Riga’s Castle Square," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 121-136.
    12. Janine B. Illian & David F. R. P. Burslem, 2017. "Improving the usability of spatial point process methodology: an interdisciplinary dialogue between statistics and ecology," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 101(4), pages 495-520, October.
    13. McLinden, Daniel, 2017. "And then the internet happened: Thoughts on the future of concept mapping," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 293-300.
    14. Dionisio, Marcelo & de Vargas, Eduardo Raupp, 2020. "Corporate social innovation: A systematic literature review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(2).
    15. Maribel Blasco, 2022. "“We’re Just Geeks”: Disciplinary Identifications Among Business Students and Their Implications for Personal Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 279-302, June.
    16. Zakrzewska-Bielawska, Agnieszka & Czakon, Wojciech & Kraus, Sascha, 2023. "Relational orientation in B2B strategies: Measurement scale development and validation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    17. Moritz Böhmecke‐Schwafert & Marie Wehinger & Robin Teigland, 2022. "Blockchain for the circular economy: Theorizing blockchain's role in the transition to a circular economy through an empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3786-3801, December.
    18. Helena Gutmane, 2023. "A Bourdieusian Framework for Understanding Public Space Heritage Transformations: Riga’s Castle Square," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 121-136.
    19. Perello-Marin, M Rosario & Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Raúl & Alfaro-Saiz, Juan-Jose, 2022. "Analysing GRI reports for the disclosure of SDG contribution in European car manufacturers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6271-:d:1440555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.