There’s no denying the trend toward greater urbanization around the globe — especially in Asia — also will continue to influence property and infrastructure development trends aimed at creating the best places for people to live, work and play.
McKinsey & Co.’s latest report, How to make a city great, projects that 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030 — that’s 5 billion people living in cities worldwide compared with 3.6 billion today.
Moreover, the report discusses the importance of leadership in effective, competitive and sustainable city development: “Leaders in developing nations must cope with urbanization on an unprecedented scale, while those in developed ones wrestle with aging infrastructures and stretched budgets. … And all are aware of the environmental legacy they will leave if they fail to find more sustainable, resource-efficient ways of managing these cities.”
The best city leaders accomplish three things well, according to McKinsey:
- They achieve smart growth, incorporating environmental concerns and needs into their economic decision making.
- They do more with less, including creating opportunities for public-private partnerships.
- They win support for change, in part by emphasizing accountability and collaboration.
With respect to Asia, the topics of urbanization, livability and real estate development to accommodate the growing needs of city populations is explored in “New urbanism,” the cover story for the October issue of The Institutional Real Estate Letter – Asia Pacific.
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Jennifer Molloy is editor of The Institutional Real Estate Letter – Asia Pacific.
