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If you watch one thing this week (apart from the election coverage, of course) you could do a lot worse than checking out WiredScore’s inaugural Global Smart Neighbourhood Summit. 

Why? Because it brings together major players delivering large-scale projects around the world to address one of the most important questions that anyone working in real estate has to ask themselves. How can I build for the future? 

Arguably, that question should be how can we build for the future. No one is going to future-proof the world in isolation. But the overarching point remains the same; when it comes to designing and developing the built world, where there is successful futureproofing, there is value. 

But what about when that future is decades away? Large scale development, including the design and creation of the next generation of global neighbourhoods, comes with colossal lead times. Ensuring that these sprawling developments are primed and poised to deliver what people will want and need years into the future is no mean feat. That’s where the technology comes in. 

As WiredScore says in its Smart Neighbourhoods White Paper, it is impossible to predict with certainty how technology will advance and how it will transform our lives. But it is possible to plan for inevitable change with forward-looking infrastructure design that prioritises flexibility and resilience. 

It adds that the neighbourhood schemes that will stand the test of time will be those that, “invest as much in shared community spaces and amenities as they do in the buildings themselves and place equal emphasis on the sustainability of both the community and its technical infrastructure.”

No one knows more about the complexities and challenges of long-term futureproofing than those in the midst of doing just that. People like British Land’s urban designer and development executive Michael Delfs, the reformed smart buildings sceptic delivering London’s 53 acre redevelopment of Canada Water, and Low Tide Properties’ SVP Adam Mitchell, the developer committed to creating a new, 55 acre neighbourhood for Vancouver’s creative and innovation industries, both of whom spoke on a panel about how innovative neighbourhood design can create resiliency as part of the Global Smart Neighbourhood Summit. 

“Over the last 20 years the idea that really good mixed-use development is more valuable than the sum of its parts has become well understood,” said Delfs. “What is less well understood is how long it takes. These projects are measured in decades, not years. We need to have faith in the vision and maintain belief as the world around us changes. It’s not easy.”

Leading with public space is also crucial, he added, pointing out that “not everyone will use the buildings you develop, but everyone will use the public realm.”

And there are other ways to mitigate against threats to a future-proofed final project, added Mitchell. Namely avoiding getting too bogged down in impossible predications. “We don’t want to predict, say, specific technologies,” he said. “We don’t even try. We just want the space to be able to respond to whatever the tech nerds are in the future. We are designing with the future in mind whether that’s making sure there is an uninterrupted cable network running throughout the project or collecting relevant data and using building systems with OpenAPI so they can respond to how users are interacting with the space.” The key is to be responsive without being too predicative, he added. 

The good news is that much of the technology required to create future proofed neighbourhoods is already available, added Yasser Ahmed, Vice President of Buildings at Schneider Electric, who is responsible for decarbonising and digitising buildings and districts across swathes of the Middle East. 

“Technology is enhancing resilience,” he said. “On the sustainability side up to 77% of carbon emissions can be avoided by using existing technologies. I am not talking about something disruptive here. We have access to this today across electric and digital solutions.” With those two technology pillars, he added, there is hope for the future of a sustainable built environment. 

Reassuring? Absolutely. But just because the technology is available, it doesn’t mean it is automatically straight forward to deploy. For more on the biggest challenges and frustrations of the players behind these large-scale, groundbreaking developments, be sure to check out the summit here.

Gold dust global real estate content, whatever your political leanings.

- Emily

Emily Wright

Head of Content

CREtech

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