Construction Policy

This subject is not offered in 2015.

170 hours

Admission into one of the following courses:

MC-ARCH Master of Architecture
MC-ARCH2Y Master of Architecture (200 points)
MC-ARCH3Y Master of Architecture (300 points)
MC-LARCH Master of Landscape Architecture
MC-LARCH2Y Master of Landscape Architecture (200 points)
MC-LARCH3Y Master of Landscape Architecture (300 points)
MC-CM Master of Construction Management
MC-CONMG2Y Master of Construction Management (200 points)
MC-CONMG3Y Master of Construction Management (300 points)
MC-PROP Master of Property
MC-PROP2Y Master of Property (200 points)
MC-PROP3Y Master of Property (300 points)
MC-URPL Master of Urban Planning
234AA Master of Design
234AH Master of Design (Heritage)
373AA Graduate Diploma in Planning and Design

Or approval from the subject coordinator.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject focuses on the analysis of how government strategies and political decisions (and in some cases lack thereof) affect or adapt to the construction characteristics of the built environment as well as the industrial processes underlying its production. By researching official policy documents and examining historical and contemporary case studies in Australia and worldwide, the subject seeks to familiarise students to instruments of policy analysis, evaluation and design.

• To facilitate students’ understanding of the construction industry in its various dimensions, and the macro-scale logics that move it;
• To articulate the relationship between building industry output, socio-political environment and policy actions;
• To connect urban environments to their development and construction processes;
• To enable students to comprehend urban and industrial transformations over time, and read possible future construction market evolutions.

• Class participation (10%), through comments and remarks displaying cognitive ability to engage with the strategic and evaluative aspects of the discussion.
• Gathering of discussion-specific data throughout the semester equivalent to 1500 words, showing students’ ability to assess the relevance of different sets of industry-related information to establishing and evaluating requirements and priorities in given project contexts/situations. This data form the basis of the essay.
• Essay equivalent to 4500 words (90%, incorporating 30% for the data collection component) due in week 12 focussing on the evaluation of an existing construction-related policy or the outline of a new one vis-à-vis the construction methodologies and processes implied, and displaying a degree of independence in preparing and structuring a research task.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Ability to analyse policy documents;
• Ability to undertake ideal-type analysis;
• Understanding of the type of socio-technical data required in industrial studies;
• Ability to associate theoretical positions to policy actions;
• Ability to prepare and conduct technical interviews with industry and government representatives;
• Ability to read data from primary and secondary sources in a critical way.