A systematic literature review on modern methods of construction in building: An integrated approach using machine learning

The concerns surrounding sustainability, alternative energies, and lifestyle changes due to the pandemic have resulted in a surge in the manufacturing of buildings utilizing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), particularly in housing. These methods involve using new technologies as smart building alternatives to traditional construction. Against the backdrop of Industry 4.0, there is an urgent need for a systematic literature review of MMCs in building construction to classify them, detect trends and gaps, and outline future research areas. This study analyzed 633 publications from 1975 to 2022 and grouped them into six thematic clusters and 18 subcategories, using a novel mixed methodology incorporating natural language processing (NLP) analysis. The qualitative analysis of the literature indicates that research in the field is dominated by tools and technologies integrated into Construction 4.0 and the industry's management aspects. However, this review also highlights several gaps in research, including the need for more application of MMC to building retrofitting and the need for approaches to improve the built environment through the new paradigm of regenerative design. The high-level mapping and characterization of the bibliographic corpus's conceptual structure and the classical evaluation process based on systematic literature review (SLR) have provided a more profound and rigorous state-of-the-art understanding.