About the webinar series
Real estate investment and development are key processes that shape contemporary cities. Nonetheless, meaningful engagement between scholars from the fields of Urban Studies, Spatial Planning and Real Estate is rare. At the same time, stereotypes attached to both public and private actors working in the property sector may hamper successful collaboration. The aim of the Property Webinar Series was to foster interdisciplinary and inter-professional discussions. In several thematic sessions, the webinar series brought together scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and property industry leaders, to showcase how a joint discussion between scholars from different disciplines with property industry leaders and public sector officials can lead to fruitful conversations and potential future research endeavours.
Organisers
The webinar series was initiated by Dr. Sara Özogul and Nagwa Kady, and has been developed in close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Tuna Tasan-Kok, Dr. Gert-Joost Peek, Andre Legarza, and Mariam Hussain.
Collaborators
The project is supported by the University of Amsterdam’s Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) and the Amsterdam School of Real Estate (ASRE).
Webinar 1: Corporate Social Responsibility in real estate in times of crisis
The first session of the Property Webinar Seminar took place on October 2nd, 2020.
The aim of this session is to discuss the significance and the changing role of CSR in real estate development practices. If there is one thing this pandemic has taught us it is that ‘we are all in this together’. In the current global socio-economic context, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a business strategy comes into clear focus.
We approach CSR from a specific urban planning and development perspective. The Financial Crisis of 2008, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement have arguably played a significant role in pushing CSR forward. However, the focus has primarily been placed on environmental policies and organizational governance, leaving the social dimensions of the concept and their effects on cities largely open for interpretation. Therefore, we focus on the distinct interplay between the ‘social’ components of CSR and their potential impact in property development practices, beyond the scale of individual buildings. Furthermore, we look ahead: COVID-19 has accentuated vulnerabilities within many urban societies, including social isolation, small homes and the lack of urban amenities. Can and will these social elements be included in the scope of CSR, and will this pandemic correspondingly change the future of urban real estate development?
A recap of this session can be found on the Centre for Urban Studies blog.
Webinar 2: The rise and metamorphosis of property investment managers
The second session of the Property Webinar Seminar took place on November 13, 2020.
Investment managers are a type of institutional property investors who play an increasingly dominant role in real estate. In Amsterdam’s residential property market, investment managers constituted just a small proportion of investment actors before the 2008 financial crisis. Following the crisis, however, investment managers started to occupy more powerful positions: a small number of investment managers were responsible for large shares of the total investment transactions. This ‘success’ did not remain unnoticed. From 2014 onward, once the economy recovered, we can observe the emergence of many new actors in the residential property market, whereby a fine-grained picture of numerous investment managers with small market shares stands out.
The aim of this seminar session is to discuss the rise and metamorphosis of investment managers in Amsterdam. Who are these investment managers? What gave rise to their growth? How do they behave? And to what extent are they influenced by planning and policy agendas?
Speakers
A recap of this session can be found on the Centre for Urban Studies blog.
Webinar 3: Covid19 and risk assessments on hospitality property holding decisions
The third session of the Property Webinar Seminar took place on November 13, 2020.
This session responds to the COVID-19 pandemic’s ongoing effects on the hospitality industry, which has spurred renewed conversations on risks associated with hospitality properties. It focuses on the approaches to risk of different actors involved in hospitality property holding – with close attention to how owners, lenders, operators, and brands identify risks in hospitality properties.
The session aims to bridge knowledge between owners, lenders, operators, brands, and academics with a focus on identifying various strategies and solutions which help mitigate risks associated with hospitality property transactions and holdings. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the webinar focuses on hospitality properties and challenges the expert panellists to identify short and long-term risks associated with properties in light of current market conditions, regulatory frameworks, and global public health crises. In doing so, the session of the webinar series aims to better bridge the academy with practice – bridging expert knowledge on complex subjects with contemporary practice.
Speakers
A recap of this session can be found on the Centre for Urban Studies blog.
Webinar 4: Mixed-use urban development as a tool for risk mitigation
The fourth session of the Property Webinar Seminar took place on December 11, 2020.
Mixed-use developments are increasingly used by stakeholders such as property developers and investors to mitigate risks in urban transformation processes. Mixed-use developments are increasingly used by stakeholders such as property developers and investors to mitigate risks in urban transformation processes.
In the background of this rise of mixed-use development, there has been an evolution of the commercial real estate (CRE) sector in the past two decades, amounting to record CRE investment volumes at the end of 2019 in Europe, as published by global real estate firm CBRE. With increasing urbanization, shifting demographics and substantial real estate investor interest, urban planning and property development are beginning to further collide with commercial production and investor-driven interests in urban real estate, whether they want to or not.
This session aims to discuss mixed-use development in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and other cities, exploring the definition of mixed-use development, relationships between stakeholders, and the risks involved.
Speakers
A recap of this session can be found on the Centre for Urban Studies blog.