Reimagining Real Estate: A Framework for the Future

The report updates a framework to reimagine real estate around liveability, sustainability, resilience and affordability, diagnosing capital-market stresses and demand shifts, and outlining public-private actions, value drivers and technologies to attract capital, decarbonize assets, expand housing, and strengthen cities.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

Mixed-method synthesis combining expert interviews with industry leaders, secondary research, and analysis of market data and benchmarks (e.g., IMF, FDIC, MSCI, JLL, UNEP, IEA). The report uses illustrative case studies and figures to update the 2021 framework and derive actionable recommendations.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

This insight report refreshes the 2021 framework for the future of real estate, reaffirming four pillars—liveability, sustainability, resilience and affordability—as the path to long-term value and social benefit. It assesses post-pandemic demand shifts across asset classes, highlighting office “flight-to-quality,” retail bifurcation, persistent housing affordability gaps, growth in mixed-use, and surging needs for data centers. Capital markets have been disrupted by rapid rate hikes, tighter lending, and price discovery challenges, yet improving inflation dynamics, large stores of undeployed equity, and expanding private credit point to a gradual recovery. The report underscores sovereign and municipal fiscal stability as foundational to urban investment, and stresses infrastructure—transport, energy grids, and climate resilience—as a prime value catalyst, often enabled through public‑private partnerships.

It details actions for the public sector—clear regulation, market transparency, infrastructure delivery, financial stability, incentives, and pro‑growth policies—and for the private sector—leadership, measurement and disclosure, technology adoption, disciplined capital stacks, and prioritization of resilient, low‑carbon assets. Practical pathways include compact, mixed-use density; healthy, inclusive design; deep retrofits and circular construction; adaptive reuse to avoid obsolescence; nature‑based resilience and cybersecurity; flexible zoning and financial tools to expand affordable and workforce housing; and people‑centric development that strengthens social capital. Technology, especially AI, supports energy optimization, predictive maintenance, tenant experience, underwriting, and portfolio management. Overall, shared execution on the pillars is presented as essential to attract capital and deliver durable economic and social returns.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

Categories: 2020s time horizon | 2025 time horizon | English publication language | Global geographic scope | adaptive reuse | affordability | capital markets | demand shifts | fiscal stability | infrastructure | liveability | resilience | sustainability | technology