Impacts 2020 webinar: How is widespread upheaval changing the world of real estate?

As we came into 2020, there were trends across the world that we thought would potentially hit a ‘tipping point’ this year. These were either just beginning to have a demonstrable impact on global real estate or – if the factors were already present to some degree – would become so significant that they could no longer be ignored.

Covid-19 changed the world seemingly overnight, affecting almost every geography and type of property. In some sectors, it accelerated trends and changes that were already underway, such as in the case of e-commerce and flexible working. But while the virus poses immediate health and economic challenges, other global technological, demographic, social and climate tipping points have not gone away.

Notwithstanding the obvious human cost of the current pandemic, the changes that some of these tipping points have the potential to unleash – most notably the climate crisis – may well make the impact of Covid-19 look relatively small when we take the long view.

The advantage the real estate industry has on this occasion is that we can see many of these other tipping points coming and have the capacity and time to evolve and adapt (although many would argue that opportunities to stave off major climate change are rapidly running out).

Our Impacts 2020 programme therefore examines the key trends to track in the coming months and years, and the effects they may have on real estate occupiers and investors across the globe. How is social and technological change shaping the retail sector and the fast-growing biotech sector? How will we meet the climate change challenge through sustainable building practices? And which regions are best placed to deliver food and water security? These are just some of the questions we seek to answer in these features and our latest podcast.