Webinar on uncertainty and change in planning and real estate

The pandemic has caused an upheaval in various sectors, and the real estate industry has not been immune to its effects. Covid19 has brought to the forefront longstanding issues in planning equitable cities and has led to new ideas about urban living, which has altered both policy and real estate industry priorities.

In response to this disruption, Connect21, a webinar seminar series, was launched to discuss the effects of Covid19 on urban development from planning and real estate perspectives.

The first session of the Connect21 Webinar Seminar took place on May 26, 2021, and featured international experts from academia and practice. The speakers were Kathy Pain, a Professor of Real Estate Development at Henley Business School, University of Reading, Fuad Malkawi, a Senior Urban Development Specialist at The World Bank, and Alexandre Lamot, a Managing Partner at A Lamot & Co.

The webinar seminar focused on the effects of Covid19 on urban development, and the discussion centered around how the pandemic has disrupted established practices and relationships between planners and real estate industry actors. The speakers discussed the extent to which planning policies and strategies will be shaped by new sectoral, locational, and investment priorities of the real estate industry, and vice versa. They also explored how equitable urban development can gain traction from renewed discussions on urbanism, basic infrastructures, and amenities in both planning and real estate circles.

One of the critical questions that emerged from the discussion was whether there will be lasting change in the ways in which planning and real estate industry actors interrelate in this uncertain environment or whether interdependencies will soon revert to ‘business as usual’. It was noted that the pandemic has created opportunities for more collaboration between planners and real estate industry actors, but the challenge is to sustain this level of engagement in the long term.