PM Network - March 2015

THE AUSSIE EFFECT

and chemicals. Following the investment flurry of the past several years, the slowdown could precede more sustainable growth, Mr. Hsieh adds.

“It is slower, but this is partially by design,” he
says. “What the Chinese government is aiming for
is more sustainable and quality growth.”
While the slowdown has affected industries tied to
real estate—such as manufacturers of steel, aluminum
and glass—not all sectors face the same outlook, espe-
cially if their organizations have solid project manage-
ment practices in place, Mr. Hsieh says.

“If you are diversified and you have the latest project management tools, you have a good track record and you focus on the encouraged industries, then you will stay busy,” he says.

With the changing economy has come an even greater need for project management skills, Mr. Hsieh says. In the past, the government sometimes would eagerly green-light projects, despite subpar feasibility studies and return-on-investment estimates, he says. Now, it’s paying greater attention to the projects it approves and the oversight they need. —Ambreen Ali

China’s economic woes have implications far beyond its own borders—as Australia knows all too well.

China has been Australia’s main customer for iron ore, the main ingredient in steel, leading to record profits for ore producers over the past decade. Yet China’s real-estate slump, particularly the dip in new apartment buildings, has driven a sharp decline in demand for steel and, with it, iron ore. China’s slowdown has led to dramatic fluctuations in iron ore prices that in turn have affected Australia’s national budget.

That decrease in demand has been accompanied by an increase in supply from industry heavyweights such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and Vale. After Australian production of iron ore increased 40 percent between 2010 and 2013, iron ore prices in 2014 fell to a five-year low.

As a result, some big iron projects planned for the next few years could have a hard time getting the investments they need. One such project is a US$7 billion initiative to develop a mine, port and railway in western Australia.

It’s small wonder, then, that Goldman Sachs has announced the “end of the Iron Age.”

Elevated Trail

A 2.7-mile ( 4.3-kilometer) stretch of the Bloomingdale train line in Chicago, Illinois, USA has been the subject of rehab speculation since its last freight ran in 2001.

More than a decade later, a US$95 million project is finally underway to transform the space into a cycling and jogging path surrounded by new parks.

Originally slated for completion in late 2014, the project experienced a setback when an abnormally cold winter froze the team’s excavation phase. That caused project delays including cutting short the planting season originally scheduled for late summer. Plantings will now occur in the second quarter of this year.

“We want to … meet the visions set forth for the community,” transportation commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld told the Chicago Tribune.

Factory Farm

The Guangdong Float Glass Factory in Shenzhen, China stopped production in 2009.

The derelict factory didn’t just sit empty; it was in disarray. “The site was a piece of abandoned wasteland,” says Tris Kee, assistant professor, department of architecture, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Yet her project team saw potential in the space, and chose the site to build its 8,100-square-meter (87,200-square-foot) Hong Kong Value Farm, a part organic farm, part art installation developed for the Shenzhen and Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture.

To maximize the CNY700,000 project budget, the team incorporated standing infrastructure whenever possible. Local bricks, for instance, were utilized to separate crops of bok choy and kale.

Though the installation has closed, the project team designed with the future in mind: The chief curator is developing a proposal to convert the organic farm into a public park.