Companies belonging to the engineering & construction sector will be affected directly and indirectly by a number of disruptive opportunities and challenges that will jeopardize their corporate longevity over the coming decades. While described in detail within Quantumrun’s special reports, these disruptive trends can be summarized along the following broad points:
- First off, advances in nanotech and material sciences will result in a range of materials that are stronger, lighter, heat and impact resistant, shapeshifting, among other exotic qualities. These new materials will enable significantly novel design and engineering possibilities that will impact the manufacture of a range of future building and infrastructure projects.
- By the late 2020s, construction scale 3D printers will significantly reduce the time needed to build houses and highrises by using additive manufacturing principles to ‘print’ housing units.
- The late 2020s will also introduce a range of automated construction robots that will improve construction speed and accuracy. These robots will also offset a forecasted labor shortfall, as significantly fewer millennials and Gen Zs are choosing to enter the trades than past generations.
- Maglev elevator systems that use magnetic levitation instead of elevator cables will allow for elevators to run horizontally, as well as vertically; they will allow for multiple elevator cabins to operate in a single shaft; and they will allow buildings over a mile high to become commonplace.
- By 2050, the world population will rise above nine billion, over 80 percent of whom will live in cities. Unfortunately, the infrastructure needed to accommodate this influx of urbanites does not currently exist, meaning the 2020s through the 2040s will see an unprecedented growth in urban development projects globally.
- Similar to the note above, the next two decades will see significant economic growth across Africa and Asia that will result in a range of transportation and utility infrastructure projects approved for production.
- Increasingly severe weather events will occur globally throughout the 2020s and 2030s, due in large part to climate change. These events will impact coastal cities the worst, resulting in regular reconstruction projects, climate resistant infrastructure projects, and in the worst cases, the potential relocation of entire cities further inland.
These broad trends will have far-reaching effects on the engineering & construction sector that will influence the sector’s long-term development.
To stay informed about these and other trends, as well as the emerging opportunities and threats facing the engineering & construction sector, consider investing in Quantumrun Foresight sector forecast reports. Contact us today to learn more.
