Blueprints for the future: the insiders’ view

1.
ARCHITECT
Tosin Oshinowo
Oshinowo Studio, Lagos, Nigeria

“Growing up in Lagos, I’ve seen a growing property market that is maturing and doesn’t yet use data sufficiently to understand the needs of its residents. Lagos has a saturated luxury industry. It’s incredible to see these exceptional-looking properties but there isn’t enough spending power in the market for this product.

What the data shows is that there is a need to develop appropriate housing for the burgeoning middle class. There are lots of people moving to Lagos who aren’t just looking for the standard two- or three-bedroom apartment. They want to live together and benefit from sharing communal spaces. Lagos has the potential to be a blueprint for urbanism that doesn’t just copy the Global North.”

2.
GLOBAL CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER
David Steinbach
Hines, Houston

“We’re going to see a lot of blurring of lines. In what sense? For example, the line between retail and logistics, and also office and living. There are plenty of other areas such as these where there’s room for growth.”

3.
DIRECTOR
Tamsin Ace
East Bank, London

“Culture being a part of the growth conversation is really key. The realisation is being made that it’s not enough to build homes and facilities and then expect something to happen. It’s a large-scale collaborative process between leaders, artists, programmers and grass-roots organisations, all in conversation and harbouring the same desire to build a solid community.”

4.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Wenzhuo Ma
ReMatBuilt, Braunschweig, Germany

“Demand for natural materials, such as stone for concrete production, remains very high. With so much waste improperly used, it leaves a genuinely untapped area for growth in the property business. Therefore, finding ways to recycle building materials continues to be very important, in pursuit of both the reduction of resource consumption and the amount of construction waste ending up in landfill.”

5.
CEO
Fang Low
Figment, Singapore

“The demand for co-living will continue to climb. The rise of remote and transnational working arrangements have deepened people’s desire to connect with like-minded individuals while still feeling at home. Incorporating art, design and culture into co-living spaces can help residents to feel rooted and inspired. They are no longer just looking for a place to live; they want to belong.”

6.
FOUNDER
Anna Mackay
Sister City, Portland

“In my ideal world there is increased interest from the property-investment community in supporting projects where the sole focus isn’t financial return but rather the whole return. We see property and leasing values around our projects go up after we build because our projects are special and bring people into those neighbourhoods. These are real performance indicators. I’m also interested in the health outcomes of people living in our buildings – how do we start to really value that?”

7.
FOUNDER
Amish Tolia
Leap, New York

“There are a lot of retailers that need to be in the world of physical retail and need a bricks-and-mortar strategy to complement their online presence. So we do feel very confident and bullish about the future of bricks-and-mortar. There is a tremendous amount of growth that’s still going to happen, given the need for shoppers to have the in-store experience. Capital markets that support retail investment are going to open up a bit more, so access to capital will loosen up.”

8.
CEO
François Trausch
Pimco, Paris

“The time when you could build an office building occupied by a single tenant and not care about your community is gone. There is also an opportunity in the secular trends that can enable growth: demographics, digitisation and decarbonisation. The US has strong demographics, meaning that residential there is a very conducive asset class. But there are also plenty of opportunities in countries that have declining demographics, such as Japan, where household formation in larger cities is growing.”

9.
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT
Martand Khosla
New Delhi 

“We need to realise that he world is not climatically homogeneous and I really think that architecture needs to reflect this. But it’s important to remember that there is opportunity in incorporating traditional materials, including stabilised mud bricks and stone, that could significantly reduce a building’s energy demands. In my view, the key to sustainable growth lies in decentralised urban planning. The focus for architects and developers should shift to creating self-sufficient hubs in rural and semi-urban areas that are equipped with employment opportunities, healthcare and education infrastructure.”

10.
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
David Hilman
Agung Sedayu Realestat Indonesia, Jakarta

“Retail has been growing and we’re now way beyond where we were before the pandemic. People still love going to shopping malls, particularly to dine out with the family. Food and beverage is the big growth segment and we have tenants lining up to go into our malls. When it comes to shopping, there’s more local content in the industry. Young people are getting into retail and doing it differently. They’re the ones who used to run online e-commerce businesses but now realise that they can’t just exist online.”

11.
PARTNER AND CHAIR OF EUROPE
Anthony Duggan
Knight Frank, London

“Ten years ago, [private investors] wanted something on Bond Street or the Croisette in Cannes. Now it’s about how they can work their capital harder. They’re in the same place as institutional investors: they’re thinking about logistics, data centres, the private rented sector. That is a redefinition of what they’d have been doing in the past.”

12.  
ARCHITECT AND FOUNDER
Omar Gandhi
Omar Gandhi Architects, Halifax, Canada

“There is growth and opportunity in rejuvenating dilapidated parts of our urban centres in order to meet the challenges of affordable housing. Adaptive reuse is an interesting field, especially when considering the cost of construction as well as new ways of thinking about sustainability. In North America, there’s such a poor use of existing infrastructure. A second important factor to consider is resilient buildings: what are the ways in which we can construct to prepare for rising sea levels, strong winds and forest fires?”

13.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Nadia Verjee
Expo Dubai Group, Dubai 

“The property industry is poised for a year of cautious optimism. Affordable housing initiatives are having a moment, which is especially critical in Dubai, where there’s a significant opportunity for developers to invest in affordable housing projects – and observers will start to see these springing up in Dubai around transport nodes to address the first and last mile. Catering to the middle- and lower-income segments can help to meet market demand and contribute to social equity.”

14.  
ARCHITECT AND CO-FOUNDER
Max Melvill
The Maak, Cape Town

“Here in South Africa there’s much room for growth in architecture and buildings that can help to foster meaningful connections between people and support and grow the community. The people who are involved in designing the urban environment have a responsibility to provide more kindness, compassion and care. There’s a huge opportunity for large-scale apartment blocks or bigger city developments to have some valuable community functions incorporated into them.”

15.  
FOUNDER
Rana Amirtahmasebi
Eparque Urban Strategies, New York 

“I’m concerned about sites of cultural production disappearing from our cities. So the first thing is to integrate the arts into mixed-use development: warehouses, factories and shops that can be repurposed into cultural hubs, including for use as galleries or performance venues. Developing flexible, multifunctional spaces such as these can attract artists as well as the broader community.”

16. 
CEO
Annica Ånäs
Atrium Ljungberg, Nacka, Sweden

“After several years of market changes due to the pandemic, recession and inflation, we are now witnessing market stabilisation. A thriving, secure city is essential to attract employees back to offices. We need to offer attractive environments and a different customer proposition than we once did. This includes good transportation, appealing environments and new levels of customer service.”

17.  
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Laura Viscovich
Holcim Foundation, Zürich 

“You need to have a growth mindset to bring change and test new ideas. We need change-makers who can drive policies to hasten the implementation of sustainable materials and design. There are existing solutions that are still not fully understood in the property industry. We need to help the industry understand the need to change.”

18.
CHAIR
Anurag Verma
RUSS, London

“Building is not only a material practice; it is a social one. As a society we need to find ways of seeing land as a resource and rethinking what value means. If we stop thinking of housing as a commodity, you start thinking about the mental health benefits of stable housing, for example.”

19.
ARCHITECT AND FOUNDER
Richard Francis-Jones
Fjcstudio, Sydney

“We need more lateral thinking when building for education, housing, health and aged communities – the areas I expect to see grow. There is much to be excited about in the rate of technical innovation and development in construction materials that can help us to deliver more sustainable, cost-effective and beautiful buildings.”

20.
CEO
Wallaya Chirathivat
Central Pattana, Bangkok

“As cities in Thailand and Vietnam grow and populations increase, the demand for well-designed, sustainable and resilient buildings will skyrocket. Urbanisation starts with shopping malls and residential buildings, then hotels, offices, international schools and hospitals. Climate resilience is also gaining importance. Properties must not only minimise their environmental impact but also be designed to withstand natural disasters and extreme weather events. Key elements such as fire-resistant materials, flood-resistant designs and smart infrastructure that adapts to changing weather patterns are crucial for future-proofing buildings.”

21.
CEO
Rodrigo Rivero Borrell
ReUrbano, Mexico City

“Developers now understand that if they build a trustworthy relationship with the community, it’s better for everyone. Commercial spaces are realising that purposeful ground-floor projects make more sense. Adding local commerce rather than chains adds a huge amount of value.”

22.  
DIRECTOR OF CITIES, PLANNING AND DESIGN
Alice Charles
Arup, Dublin

“We need to build green and thriving neighbourhoods, because at that level we can start to address the sustainable transition and affordable housing in our cities. But finance needs to flow in the right direction; there needs to be more long-term thinking, particularly around pension funds, with more focus on financing a whole block rather than single buildings.”

23.
GROUP DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Nick King
Red Sea Global, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

“There’s opportunity everywhere in hospitality development right now. People will travel, they want to explore new places and they are eager for positive engagement with other people, other cultures and beautiful environments.”

24.
HEAD OF PRIVATE MARKETS
Cecile Retaureau
Phoenix Group, London, UK

“We see investment opportunities in decarbonisation, energy security and digitalisation such as data centres. We also continue to invest in core sectors driven by demographics, such as affordable housing, partnering with local authorities to unlock critical and essential projects in the UK, and find ways to make them investable for us.”

25.  
CEO
Augusto Martins
JHSF, São Paulo

“When it comes to residential developments, we are seeing growing demand and opportunities for residences with personalised services – think in-house concierge – and more robust infrastructure for sport, be that golf, tennis or pickleball. Our Boa Vista Village, for instance, has a surf club, even though we’re in the interior of the country, with manmade pools that have proved to be a major draw.”