Analysis of the Obstacles Facing Sustainability in the Syrian Construction Industry

The construction sector in Syria plays a fundamental role in shaping urban identity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to change traditional building design and implementation patterns to make them more sustainable. Although sustainable building practices achieve environmental, social, and economic benefits by conserving resources, rationalizing energy and water consumption, improving the indoor environment and public health, preserving resources for future generations, and reducing costs, especially during the operation and maintenance phase, reliance on sustainable technologies in the Syrian construction sector remains limited or almost non-existent. This is due to the presence of numerous challenges and obstacles that hinder the adoption of these technologies, including economic, financial, social, engineering, educational, external, natural, and other obstacles. In the context of this research, the challenges and obstacles hindering sustainability in the construction industry in Syria were analyzed by examining the local reality and reviewing several relevant previous studies. A set of (37) obstacles was identified and divided into (6) categories. A suitable questionnaire was then designed to determine the relative importance of these obstacles and rank them in descending order using the Relative Importance Index (RII). The results showed that the most significant obstacles were financial and economic (24%), followed by social (21%), engineering and educational (18%), administrative (16%), technical and technological (12%), and natural and external (9%). A set of proposals and recommendations were developed to address these obstacles and promote the adoption of sustainability technologies in the Syrian construction sector, particularly during the upcoming reconstruction phase.