With the increasing scale of construction projects, the number of project participants gradually grows and the relationships among project participants increase. Therefore, the project participants form a collaborative network to cope with the increasingly complex and dynamic project environment. The project network plays an essential role in achieving a better outcome as it is a channel of information flow and can make information transmission more effective. Additionally, the complexity of network nodes, relationships, and structure inevitably influence project outcomes. Due to the dynamics, non-linearity, temporality, and one-off features of construction projects, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the complexity of construction projects from a network perspective.

Recent attention has been focused on the empirical validation of the network characteristics of construction projects, while the internal interaction mechanisms of the network have not been well explored. The formation and evolution of the project network can not only influence the behaviour selection of project participants, but also the achievement of project outcomes. Under the interaction of different factors, the evolution of the project network attributed to different strategies shows nonlinear self-organization and emergent properties, which can significantly influence project outcomes. Traditional theories and methods, such as social network analysis, game theory, and simulation experiments have been applied in analysing construction project networks. However, they still face difficulties in simulating or modelling complexity in construction project networks, especially megaprojects involving a large number of stakeholders. Modelling, analysing, and simulating a complex project network can deepen the understanding of the influence of complexity and impose better control strategies to affect the outcomes.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review articles that elaborate the research methods, theories, and mathematical or structural notions relevant to the complexity of construction project networks. These articles are expected to provide theoretical and/or practical implications for dealing with the complexity of construction projects.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Theories focused on the complexity of construction project networks
• Complex system modelling of construction project networks
• Decision-making methods of construction project networks
• Complex behaviour analysis of construction project networks
• Complex structure analysis of construction project networks
• Optimisation and control of construction project networks
• Machine learning techniques of construction project networks
• Data mining methods of construction project networks
• Data-driven modelling of construction project networks
• Evolutionary modelling of construction project networks
• Simulation techniques of construction project networks