Abstract

Construction and real estate have been central to the debates on sustainable development. However, the dominant definition of sustainability in construction and real estate remain centred on the environmental dimension. The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer new opportunities for the building sector to expand its focus. The available literature utilizes the existing green ratings, sustainability assessment tools and standards as the basis for investigating how construction and buildings can contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, less focus was placed on exploring the broad intersection between the building sector, on the one hand, and the SDGs and their targets on the other. This paper uses a multi-step methodology to analyze the potential role of construction and real estate in the 2030 Agenda. The paper identifies SDG targets that depend (directly or indirectly) on construction and real estate activities, and reveals that 17% of the SDG targets are directly dependent and 27% of the targets are indirectly dependent on these sectors’ activities. The identified targets are analyzed and are found to be related to all 17 goals—with the largest contributions to SDGs 11, 6, and 7. The results of the analysis are mapped and illustrated in order to provide insights to academics, practitioners and governments. This research contributes to the literature on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It also exposes the synergistic possibilities, and the partnerships required, to make use of the potential role of construction and real estate in the implementation of the UN Agenda.