Connect21 Webinar: (Mis)Matches between Urban Policies and Real Estate Industry Activities

On December 3, 2021, UGoveRN hosted the third public Connect21 webinar. Connect21 is a collaborative project to bridge multiple knowledge gaps in global real estate research. For the project, UGoveRN partnered with international planning and real estate scholars, practitioners, the AESOP Young Academic Network (AESOP YA), the African Real Estate Society (AfRES), the European Real Estate Society PhD Network (ERES), the Future Leaders of the African Real Estate Society (FLAfRES) and the Latin American Real Estate Society (LaRES).

The webinar focused on the fact that real estate actors tend to adapt swiftly to market fluctuations but often lament lacking flexibility from the public sector. Meanwhile, public sector actors face complicated administrative processes to change existing regulations, visions and targets. The Covid19 pandemic, however, triggered far-reaching changes in a short amount of time that require responses from both the property industry and the public sector in relation to urban real estate development.

Presenters of the session were Ann Verhetsel, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Antwerp, and Phil Allmendinger, Professor of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. Tuna Tasan-Kok, Professor of Urban Governance and Planning at the University of Amsterdam was the discussant.

The discussion centred around the following questions:

• What trends are driven by Covid19, ranging from office conversions to temporary property uses and suburban development activities?

• How do local planners, policy makers and real estate industry actors reflect on these trends and devise their respective strategies?

• And how do (mis)matches ultimately affect our cities?

The full recording of the webinar is available on UGoveRN's youtube channel: