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Dorota Wysokińska-Kuzdra joins ULI Europe Executive Committee
ULI Poland Chair, Dorota Wysokińska-Kuzdra, has joined the ULI Europe Executive Committee as of 1 July 2020. T
Cities and real estate to adapt and learn from the climate change and COVID19 pandemic
July 14, 2020
Over the course of June and July, the Polish National Council of the Urban Land Institute virtually gathered international experts to discuss how cities can rebound from the current crisis. Reflecting on urban themes the speakers explored the pandemic impacts in light of climate change, resilience, sustainable financing, wellbeing and technology. Apart from successfully bringing together real estate professionals from Poland, the e-conference proved popular among the audience of worldwide ULI Members.
Applying to global guidelines on social distancing, the annual ULI Poland conference moved to an online platform. The change opened the forum to listeners from around the globe, attracting an audience from countries such as Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Romania, the United Kingdom and USA. The programme included inspiring presentations and global insights of architects from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, MVRDV and SLA Copenhagen, as well as innovators from reSITE, Global Resilient Cities Network, Blue Zones, Measurabl, Fifth Wall, Zalando, and leading investors such as Echo Investment, Ghelamco, Hines, Immobel and Skanska.
Daniel Ringelstein, Director of City Design at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: “Rather than propose radical changes that rarely see comprehensive realization, we must instead embrace cities as organic, resilient, urban ecosystems that can adapt and be directed towards specific, accelerated change. Despite the pandemic, cities continue to offer tens of millions of people a place to live, work, recreate, meet their daily needs and benefit from social connections. Cities are needed now more than ever.”
Experts including Daniel Ringelstein (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill), Lina Liakou (Global Resilient Cities Network), Nicklas Lindberg (Echo Investment) and Jolanta Nowakowska-Zimoch (Greenberg Traurig) agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic showed the vulnerabilities of cities, pointing out the need to become more adaptive and humane. They also highlighted the re-evaluated importance of social interaction and the connection with nature discovered during the times of the lockdown. In their view, isolation and the health crisis should lead to less densely populated workplaces in the future and an increase in creating more outdoor meeting areas where people can gather together.
You can view the full recording of the webinar on Knowledge Finder at this link (available to ULI members only).
“What we create and make, is very tangible and often lasts beyond a lifetime. Yet the essence of the value we bring to society goes well beyond the physical places we create. When it comes to climate, our industry is responsible for 40% of energy related emissions globally. We have a huge role to play in tackling the climate challenge and we have set a target to be carbon neutral by 2045,” said Andrei Ivan, Sustainability and Innovations at Skanska.
Speakers Billy Grayson (Urban Land Institute), Gideon Maasland (MVRDV), Andrei Ivan (Skanska) and Mateusz Grabiec (Baker McKenzie) see the need for driving long-term climate change solutions to mitigate the immediate threats such as extreme weather and the current pandemic. They addressed a growing concern and interest among investors who, now more than ever, want to incorporate resilience and climate risks to their real estate portfolios. Architects and developers are already responding with a growing number of cutting-edge projects primarily focused on sustainability and carbon neutrality as an essential reference for the future.
You can view the full recording of the webinar on Knowledge Finder at this link (available to ULI members only).
Lee Timmins, CEO for Eurasia Region at Hines: “Sustainability is not a single programme or initiative. Instead it is the outcome of many different efforts across our organisation. We have focused on sustainability and believe it has helped us deliver superior asset management performance, enabling us to become more closely involved in optimising buildings’ operations and lowering utility consumption.”
Typically, companies discuss sustainability without actually measuring it. With increasing environmental effects – this is about to change. Collecting tangible data about buildings’ performance and improving their efficiency is becoming more important to investors, developers, tenants and employees. Speakers Lee Timmins (Hines), Martin Barry (reSITE), Paweł Dębowski (Dentons) and Piotr Mirowski (Colliers International) also conclude that the pandemic is influencing the profitability of the real estate market and providing opportunities for new sustainable strategies.
You can view the full recording of the webinar on Knowledge Finder at this link (available to ULI members only).
“The built environment either encourages or discourages healthy behaviours. The more places that we have in or near our neighbourhoods that we can walk or bike to, the lighter and healthier we become. What we find is that the only places in the world that have sustainably improved their population health, did so by making long term changes to the built environment,” commented Dan Burden, Director of Innovation and Inspiration at Blue Zones.
Urbanists, architects and real estate professionals strive for reasonable and innovative solutions to bridge social distancing requirements with people’s wellbeing, health and happiness. International experts Dan Burden (Blue Zones), Marnix Galle (Immobel), Mette Skjold (SLA) and Justyna Bauta-Szostak (MDDP) believe that a more nature-based approach may be an answer. The so called “grown environment” would complement the built environment and help create healthy urban ecosystems. Who wouldn’t prefer a metropolis that functions similarly to a blooming forest?
You can view the full recording of the webinar on Knowledge Finder at this link (available to ULI members only).
Roelof Opperman, Managing Director at Fifth Wall: “When the pandemic hit, there was a number of businesses and real estate owners initially adjusting to this shock to their system. Then came an assessment of what immediate technology is important in coming out of this turmoil, and afterwards we saw an assessment of what kind of long-term solutions are needed based on the changes that the COVID-19 brings. We believe that nothing really changed, but everything just accelerated through this crisis.”
According to the speakers Sara Anzinger (Measurabl), Roelof Opperman (Fifth Wall), Raimund Paetzmann (Zalando SE), Jeroen van der Toolen (Ghelamco) and Soren Rodian Olsen (Cushman & Wakefield), the pandemic accelerated the technological education of decision makers and end-users. There is consensus that data, proptech concepts and innovative ideas can improve the built environment and make lives easier, impacting health and well-being results. Yet, introducing contactless solutions and seamless access within buildings may be a major challenge in older buildings, where preparing for the “new normal” may prove more difficult and costly.
You can view the full recording of the webinar on Knowledge Finder at this link (available to ULI members only).
The entire series of 2020 ULI Poland Virtual Conference webinars is available to view online in the “Knowledge Finder”, a global resource where ULI Members can access an expansive library of professional content.
The event was supported by Greenberg Traurig, Dentons, Skanska, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, Echo Investment, MDDP, Vastint and Baker McKenzie. Thank you!
