As the Olympic Park in London nears completion, the last of the big-ticket construction projects is coming to an end.

According to Glenigan, the economic research consultancy, the number of large scale projects worth in excess of £100m has halved since the start of the downturn.

The average value of individual projects for the top 50 contractors fell from £10.3m in 2010, to £8.7m in 2011, the lowest level for three years. Outside London, values are even lower.

What's more, contract values are expected to deteriorate further once work on the Olympics has ended.

They say good things come in threes and I'm pleased to say that, for the West Midlands construction sector, 2012 kicked off with a trio of good news stories.

Another week, another survey portending gloom for Britain's construction industry.

This time it's the Construction Products Association (CPA) forecasting that growth will not return until 2014, which marks the worst decline in 30 years. Next year, the CPA expects construction output to fall by 3.6 per cent, compared to its previous estimate of 2.8 per cent.

The Stirling Prize jury has courted controversy again this year by awarding the architecture industry's annual Oscar to a school.

The Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, London, was designed by 'starchitect' Zaha Hadid, but it's not the design that has come under fire, it's the cost. It is claimed that at £36.5million the Academy is around 40 per cent more expensive than the average secondary school.

In the race to find reasons for the riots that gripped our major cities in August, the built environment has come in for some flak.

Over the years, planners have been encouraged and aspired to create social cohesion through architecture. Buildings, we are told, can influence the way we live our lives.

Ironically, however, much of the civil unrest we witnessed took place in areas where regeneration had already taken place.

For example, millions of pounds has been ploughed into Tottenham in recent years; English Heritage has restored Victorian shop-fronts and facades along the high street, the Tottenham Hale Retail Park has been expanded and new housing is springing up on estate regenerations in the neighbourhood.

I was convinced before the riots, and remain so, that urban utopia cannot be created on a drawing board.

My experience working for a large constructor tells me that while buildings can provide opportunity, they are not an end in themselves. They need to fulfil a community need - perhaps educational, perhaps cultural, certainly a means for improving lives and instilling a real sense of attainment. There is clearly a section of society that does not feel connected to the prosperity and growth that new developments should bring.

Locally, a reported £65million has been ploughed into West Bromwich's digital arts centre, The Public. The Will Alsop designed building was meant to kick-start the regeneration of the town centre, but instead seems to have attracted criticism regarding its funding and low visitor numbers. Could that money have been used for other purposes to create real civic pride and engagement?

I suspect the current funding climate means we will see fewer statement public buildings. If that's so, we must make sure that investment in the built environment helps create a sense of community pride and ambition that was lacking in those who caused so much damage to their areas by rioting and looting.

ENDS

In 2001 I found myself in New York, just two weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

To be honest, my wife and I agonised over whether we should go. Although it was part of a long-planned holiday, we felt slightly uncomfortable; It didn't seem appropriate somehow, almost ghoulish.

However, we were persuaded after we rang our hotel and they told us they were "desperate" for tourists to return to New York. Mayor Giuliani's impassioned speeches urging visitors to support the city, and not let terrorism win, also helped sway our decision.

For a couple of days we deliberately avoided Ground Zero. But, as those of you who have visited the Big Apple will know, the city is smaller than you think and whilst we were in a taxi, en route to the Staten Island ferry, we stumbled across the site.

I was a little shocked by the number of people surveying the debris - their curiosity seemed morbid to me. Many were taking photographs and videos of what was, to all intents and purposes, a living cemetery. I thought it unnecessary: the images of the still-smoking ruins of the Twin Towers, and the neighbouring buildings, inches thick in dust, will be etched on my memory forever.

We are now a decade on from the atrocity.

Whilst there remains a hole in what must be the world's most recognisable skyline, work has commenced on the site.

A who's who of global architects, including our very own Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, have been marshalled to build six office towers - including the tallest dedicated office building in the world - a memorial, a national 9/11 Museum, public plazas and a transportation terminal to rival Grand Central Station. Sadly, legal issues, battles with insurers and the troubled economy have stalled progress, but the £10.5bn project is on target for completion in 2015.

As a contractor, I wonder how it would feel being involved in what is probably the most famous construction site in the world, and the birthplace of the skyscraper.

Would I feel the same unease I felt as a tourist?

The weight of history would undoubtedly hang heavy, but to help create new landmark buildings that make a statement not just in their architecture, but as a symbol for a city moving on, I think would be a massive privilege.