In recent years, population aging has been recognized as an emerging challenge in many parts of the world. Earlier studies discussed its impacts on the sustainability of social security systems and national economic growth; however, they tended to focus on the issues at the national level and were limited to developed countries. With the knowledge that population aging will be a predominant trend in both developed and developing countries, this paper aims to: (i) describe the global population aging trend and its regional demography; (ii) provide a structural review of population aging challenges at the national, communal and individual levels; and (iii) elaborate future research topics on population aging with a particular emphasis on developing countries. Several indicators suggest rapid population aging in the coming decades, especially in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The structural review presents the diverse challenges that affect both young and older population groups. Finally, the need for linking population aging with the sustainable development concept and the possible rural decline caused by rapid urbanization are suggested as future research topics. Further studies to establish a body of knowledge on population aging in developing countries are required to place population aging on the agenda of future sustainable development discussions.

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<p>As one of the three pillars of sustainable development, social sustainability has received little attention compared to the economic and environmental pillars. The major reason accounting for the neglect is attributed to its contested nature. This has culminated in the current conceptual understanding of the term. Previous efforts on social sustainability have concentrated on theoretical interpretations rather than quantification assessment. This is because quantifying social sustainability is regarded a daunting task. Meanwhile, indicators are disparate which makes understanding even more confusing. To enrich our knowledge on the term, definitional assessment and indicator synthesis and application will play a major role. The objective of this paper is to review the indicators of social sustainability and empirically apply them using the composite index approach. The review uniquely identified three dimensions (sub components) of social sustainability - representation mechanism, collective state and individual access. Empirical application in Kibera in Kenya, depicted a medium level of social sustainability. The highest contributing sub component was collective state with the least being representation mechanism. The study results evidently suggest policy support for inclusive governance, improved housing, job creation, security, education and community trust. It is believed that addressing these diverse issues will enhance social sustainability in Kibera.</p>

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The global construction industry is lagging in transitioning to sustainability, and the Kenyan construction industry is not excluded. As a result, and in response, there are Kenyan policies with specific provisions on SCT. Despite this progress, there is limited empirical research on their scope and implementation dynamics. Against this backdrop, this study examined Kenya's SCT policy regime regarding its priorities, instruments, and stakeholder orientation, including any inherent shortcomings. This aimed to make appropriate recommendations for an improved SCT policy regime to enhance and optimise industry SCT performance. Qualitative research design, specifically, qualitative content analysis technique, was used to analyse the 34 policy documents identified. The findings indicate that the regime: priorities – primarily focus on environmental sustainability targeting strategic and tactical implementation levels with minimal focus on SCT socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation, which reduces its comprehensiveness; instruments – driven by regulations, the constitution, and Acts of Parliament, as well as codes, guidelines, and plans, from multiple sources, primarily aimed at regulation and control and not the other policy instruments functions hence not delivering on their full potential; and, stakeholder orientation – primarily targeting developers/owners/occupiers and government with less focus on the other stakeholders and thus not leveraging their specific roles in SCT supply chain. The resulting recommendations were: priorities – need for improved focus on SCT's socio-economic objectives and operational level of implementation; instruments – need for a central database and leveraging them to support economic incentives, supporting activities, liability compensation, education and information, voluntary programs, and management and planning; and, stakeholder orientation – improved targeting of contractors, suppliers/producers/manufacturers, professional consultants, non-governmental and civil society organisations, and media. Lastly, given that this study focused on SCT policy evaluation, future research can focus on other parts of the policy-making process. Keywords: Business, Construction, Content analysis, Kenya, Performance, Planning, Policy regime, South Africa, Strategy, Sustainability, Sustainable Construction Transition (SCT).