How will the long-term megatrends and disruptions – from Covid to climate change to consumer expectations – influence the shape of our cities? This was the big question Westpac posed at an online event yesterday.
Westpac hosted the first in a series of property sector industry insight events focused on urbanisation in Australia.
“Our ‘Property Evolution’ series is designed to provide a platform for healthy debate and interesting and topical subject matter from world-class leaders in the sector,” said Marty Green, Westpac’s national general manager for property.
Keynote speaker Selina Short, managing partner of EY’s Oceania real estate practice, set the scene before a powerhouse panel – including Green, the Property Council’s chief executive Ken Morrison and Grant Dennis, chairman of Dennis Family Group – shared their perspectives on future drivers of cities in a post-COVID world.
Many of the biggest trends in real estate today were already underway pre-COVID, Short noted. “A pandemic just poured petrol on the need to create mixed-use experience centres.”
Short led the collaboration between EY and the Property Council earlier this year which delivered Reimagining our Economic Powerhouses, a global ‘playbook’ to transform CBDs into central experience districts.
“COVID-19 has knocked Australia’s CBDs for six,” but full-time remote working is not a preference for most office workers, Short noted. “One of the biggest challenges is smoothing out the peaks and troughs of the working week.”
Green noted the work-from-home shift was “appearing to show signs of being permanent” but that didn’t spell the end for Australia’s CBDs. “Young professional talent will always want to experience life in big cities, providing their ‘experience’ expectations are matched.”
While employers grapple with the challenges of hybrid work, Short pointed to the “bigger picture” at stake. “Our CBDs have been keys unlocking national productivity, innovation and investment for decades. Fifteen per cent of Australia’s economic activity generated in the CBDs of just our four biggest cities.
“Most of the buildings that scrape the sky are tied up with pensions and superannuation funds, which means most Australians have a stake in the success of CBD-based assets,” she said.
Reimagining our Economic Powerhouses curates all the best ideas from around the world and provides insights into the key policy plays – from redefining building quality with wellness at its heart to accelerating the move to future transport to “greening up” our streetscapes.
“We don’t need to raze our built form and start again – we have solid data that tells us small interventions can make a big difference.” Short pointed to research from MIT’s Real Estate Innovation Lab which found that views deliver a six per cent premium in building value, but street-level green rewards with a 7.8 per cent premium.
“While there are some things we are stuck with, we can invest in experiences, reimagine the workplace and throw money at trees.” While property professionals and policy makers alike were still coming to grips with the post-COVID world, Short’s message was clear: “We have an unmissable opportunity to make our cities better.”
“Westpac has a significant investment in supporting the property sector and this is the first series of property events to support this commitment,” Green concluded.
Discover more fascinating insights by downloading the first in Westpac’s Property Evolution series.