The Civil Engineering Contractor January 2019 | Page 16

WORLD NEWS
The long-standing rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney may take another twist.
Australia’s Housing Industry Association has published
statistics on housing construction, which show that the
population of Melbourne is set to outgrow Sydney’s by
2030. Melbourne grew by 125 424 in 2017; the largest
annual increase of any city in Australia’s history. If this
rate of growth continues, the Victorian capital is on
course to overtake Sydney as the country’s commercial
and cultural capital by 2030. Melbourne’s rapid growth,
bolstered by its reputation as a cultural hub, is creating a
construction boom, with one in 10 workers in the state
employed in the industry — the highest total since the
early 1980s.
In the second quarter of 2018, construction accounted
for 331 000 jobs, up 18% year-on-year and 33% higher
than the average over the past 10 years, according to the
The UAE is forecast to rank nineteenth among the
biggest construction markets in the world.
14 | CEC January 2019
report. On the state level, Victoria has overtaken New
South Wales as the locus of greatest housing construction
activity and home loan approvals over the first six months
of 2018. The report adds that the state’s dependence
on construction employment may be a vulnerability. If
the regional economy falters, capital investment in new
building is usually the first casualty.
The report says: “If it turns out that the pro-cyclical
nature of construction investment has disproportionately
fuelled the state’s economic growth at the expense of
other sectors, then the state could be left exposed in the
event of slowing construction activity.” However, this may
be offset by a number of large infrastructure schemes,
most notably the USD37-billion Suburban Rail Loop and
the USD11-billion Supertrain. nn
The value of UAE infrastructure projects is
expected to reach USD89.93-billion by 2026,
according to a report by BMI Research. The UAE is
forecast to rank 19th among the biggest construction
markets in the world, which would account for
13.8% of the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP) in the same year. The huge investments
pumped into the UAE’s transportation, energy, and
tourism sectors in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, will
boost growth in the coming decade, the UK-based
research firm added.
In May this year, UAE was named among
the world's top locations in which to invest in
infrastructure, according to data published by Bank
of America Merrill Lynch. The UAE ranked third
behind Singapore, while Saudi Arabia was also
prominent in 15th place. Dubai has made massive
investments in infrastructure projects related to the
international trade fair, with expo-related projects
hitting USD42.5-billion as of March 2018. nn
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