Property development as a process

Buildings are developed to fulfill a range of uses and purposes and many
different people are involved in planning, designing, funding,
constructing and managing them.

The real estate development process involves a complex mix of stages,

actors, interests, resources, technologies, negotiations, driving forces and
outcomes. This makes it a challenging, but exciting, world in which to work.

These characteristics also make it an intriguing process to explain and

analyse. Views of property are quite varied: we can focus on the economics of
the process or evaluate the role of different actors; we can break it down into
distinct stages or seek to measure the ‘flow’ of money or other resources
through the ‘pipeline’ or ‘system’.

The following timeline of the process is one of the more simple ones (would
you believe!). It breaks down the process into a set of stages or events that
help us see how a property such as an office building, is produced.

We’ve also included this information in a downloadable infographic which you

can print and keep for your own records. You can also view the alternative
text for this timeline.

Conducting a development appraisal

You will have seen from stage 4 of the property development process
exercise in the previous step, that a development appraisal is key to
assessing the financial viability for the development of a scheme.

To recap, once a site or shortlist of sites has been identified, the developer or
investor will undertake an initial financial appraisal of development options.
This is often said to be done ‘on the back of an envelope’ and, although it
probably involves the use of computer software or a mobile app these days,
this term suggests the provisional nature of the early appraisals. As the
development proposal gets firmer and more detailed, the appraisals will
similarly get more thorough.

At its most basic, a development appraisal will add-up the likely returns from
the scheme and subtract the likely costs, leaving a ‘residual’ amount of money
that the developer can bid for the land. To give an idea of what is involved, we
have provided a simplified example of a development appraisal, which is
based on a proposed development for 35 residential apartments in the UK.
Put yourself in the shoes of a developer or potential investor, and
change the figures highlighted in yellow to see the impact on the
‘residual land value’, and therefore overall scheme viability. How did you
find this approach to appraising the costs?

Appraisal Example

A-Z Glossary
This glossary includes definitions of key property-related words and
phrases. You may find it helpful to bookmark this Step, or print a copy of
the glossary out, so you can look up any unfamiliar words as you work
through the course. This glossary is a work in progress, so if there’s
anything you think is missing, let us know in the comments and we’ll add
them to the Step for next time.

A
Augmented Reality (AR): Embedding digital information alongside the user’s
environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality, which constructs an artificial
environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays
new information on top of it.

B
Building Information Modelling (BIM): A digital model of a building that
integrates a range of information and data to give building and real estate
professionals tools to plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and
related infrastructure.

C
Computer Generated Images (CGI): In real estate this term means the
production of images of a property using computer software for presentation to
potential clients before its completion.

(Economic) Cluster: A network of connected businesses, suppliers, and

associates in a particular field or economic sector that are all located in the
same geographical area. Clusters are claimed to increase economic efficiency
and productivity.

Contract: A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.

Contracts are used in many areas of real estate, such as investment and
financing, land purchase, construction and leasing.
F
Financial Appraisal: The analysis of the financial returns and costs of
property investment and/or development.

Financialisation: The process by which financial institutions and financial

markets increase in size and influence.

Financial Flows: The movement of money for the purpose of investment,

trade or business production, both between and within companies and often
through global city networks.

Financial Institution: Organisations that process monetary transactions,

including business and private loans, customer deposits, and investments. In
real estate it is the term applied to organisations that provide long-term
investment finance for property and include insurance companies, pension
funds and investment trusts.

Forward Funding: The term given to the method of development finance

which involves a financial institution agreeing to provide short-term
development finance and to purchase the completed property as an
investment on completion.

G
Gentrification: The process of urban renewal and rebuilding leading to the
influx of more affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces
poorer residents.

Globalisation: A process by which national and regional economies, societies

and cultures have become integrated through global networks of trade,
communication, migration and transportation.

I
Internationalisation: Process of globalisation for specific economic sectors,
like real estate, in which firms move from national to international operations.

Intelligent Cities: Similar concept to ‘smart cities’ (see below) but with more
emphasis on the use of technology and information to provide targeted and
adaptive services and information.

J
Joint Venture (JV): A separate business entity created by two or more
parties, involving a sharing of ownership, risks and returns.

K
Knowledge-Based Economy: Term used to describe trends in advanced
economies towards greater dependence on knowledge, information and high
skill levels, and the increasing need for ready access to all of these by the
business and public sectors.

L
Legacy: A term used to describe the longer-term benefits and effects of the
planning, funding, building and staging of major sporting events, like the
London Olympics in 2012.

Lease: A legal agreement by which the owner of a building or a piece of land

allows someone else to use it for a specific period and under specified
conditions, in return for periodic rental or lease payments.

Long Term Funding: Funds, often provided by financial institutions, to enable

developers to repay their short-term borrowing/loan and either realise their
profit via selling or retain the property as an investment.

N
Networked Cities: A collection of cities that operate as nodes of a world
economic network, facilitated by the growth of telecommunications and the
Internet.

O
Owner Occupier: A person, company or organisation that owns the property
that they use for residential, commercial or other purposes.

P
Privatisation: The transfer from public or government control or ownership to
private enterprise. It can apply to land, buildings, funding or services.

Property-Led Regeneration: The regeneration of an area by changing its

image, improving the environment, attracting private investment and improving
business confidence for further investment. In many cases, it involves
‘flagship’ projects such as at Canary Wharf in the London Docklands.
Public Realm: The space around, between and within buildings that is publicly
accessible, including streets, squares, parks and open spaces.

Public Private Partnership (PPP): An arrangement where a government

institution and a profit-making company invest in and/or work on an activity
together. It covers a wide range of geographical scales (individual buildings to
global operations) and a continuum of legal and institutional forms (from
informal understandings to joint companies). PPP is often used as a means of
regenerating urban and rural areas.

S
Short Term Funding: Money used to pay for the initial development costs (ie
purchase of land, construction costs, professional fees and promotion costs)
and often provided as a bank loan, secured on the property.

Smart Cities: An urban area that uses different types of electronic data
collection sensors to supply information used to manage assets and resources
efficiently.

Sustainable Development: The classic definition provided by the Brundtland

Report is “development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It
emphasises the integration (via win-win outcomes) of environmental,
economic and social policy objectives and contains a continuum of ecological
ideas from ‘light’ to ‘dark’ green.

T
Tender: A formal offer to supply goods or to do a particular job, and a
statement of the price that the bidder will charge. If a contract is put out to
tender, formal offers are invited, often with a detailed brief and sometimes with
a ‘guide price’.

Tenant: A person, company or organisation who rents or leases a residential

or commercial building from the owner, who operates as the landlord.

Introduction to the IQL scheme

Video Transcript

Over the next three weeks, you’ll explore a large property development,
the International Quarter London and hear from industry experts working
on this project. Before you learn more about the process behind this
huge development, let’s look at the case study in more detail.
The International Quarter London, (IQL) based in Stratford, London, UK, is
being developed by Lendlease, a property and infrastructure company
originating from Australia. The IQL is part of Europe’s largest urban
development project and is next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - the
home of the 2012 Olympics.

Map to show the location of Stratford within the Greater London area. Map taken from OpenMaps.
IQL plot map. © Lendlease (Click to expand)

The IQL is a large scale building project that focuses on regeneration. In this
example, regeneration is defined as:

 improving the environment of a previously unused area

 attracting private investment and
 improving business confidence for further investment.

Watch Ben, the Managing Director of the IQL, discuss the role of property and
how taking a carefully considered approach to developing a site can ‘create’ or
‘add’ value, by providing an attractive, healthy and sustainable environment for
people to live, work and play in.

Location and supporting infrastructure The position of the site in relation to

the wider urban area and the access
to physical infrastructure (eg roads,
public transport, energy supplies,
broadband connections and water
supply and drainage) and social
infrastructure (eg schools, health
facilities, leisure and community

Interaction with stakeholders
The significance of timing and use of a
phased approach
Implications of market dynamics
The role of property in place-making
Multiple definitions of value-creation
Overview of International Quarter London
This infographic of the IQL project illustrates its size in different ways
and gives some idea of the scale of its potential impact on the local area
and wider afield.
centres)
The relationship with other people and
organisations who impact on or who
are impacted by the property
development process.
Any property development project
takes time to conceive, design and
build. The different tasks and stages
need to be carefully coordinated in
order to deliver the project effectively,
efficiently and sustainably.
Property demand and supply is always
changing, often in a cyclical way. This
will affect the financial viability of the
development scheme when individual
units are sold or rented. Developers
have to manage the timing and costs
of a project to get the best market
values possible.
The type and quality of property
affects how places function and what
they look like. The quality of a place
will ‘feedback’ and affect how much
money people are prepared to pay to
occupy property in that place.
Property development creates
different types of value. Economic
profits are obviously important to
many, but others may also value
architectural qualities, environmental
benefits (and costs) and spaces that
encourage a sense of community.
How does the IQL arrangement compare to a development (big or small)
near to where you live? What do you think the impact of your chosen
development might have on the wider community? Share your thoughts
in the discussion below.

Who owns and develops the IQL property?

82 comments

The International Quarter London (IQL) was created through a

partnership (called a joint venture) between London and Continental
Railways Ltd (LCR) as the landowner and Lendlease as the developer.
This article looks at the first stage of the IQL property development
process; ‘the bid’.

LCR is owned by the UK Government’s Department of Transport and

specialises in the management, development and disposal of railway related,
property assets, particularly those associated with major infrastructure projects
such as the IQL.

Stratford in 2011 ©By EG Focus CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UK Government departments and their agencies are required to follow certain

procedures when selling land or entering into a commercial arrangement with
private developers such as Lendlease. This is to make sure that such
developments are:
  undertaken in a fair and transparent manner
 pay due regard to government policy objectives
 achieve ‘best value’ for the public purse and
 any surplus land is put out to tender so that interested parties can
prepare competitive bids.

A tender is:

A formal offer to supply goods or to do a particular job, and a statement of the price
that the bidder will charge.

A competitive bid is submitted in the form of a detailed proposal which explains

why the bidding parties believe they should be awarded the development
opportunity.

Construction work on the IQL site. © University of Reading.

Public bodies, like the LCR, have policies to guide the process of land sale
and development and how to evaluate the submitted bids. These policies often
reflect local government priorities and requirements set by central government
and/or the European Union. The LRC policies focus on the regeneration
benefits or ‘value creation’; of redeveloping surplus railway land; particularly
the contribution it can make to housing provision and economic growth. They
also include various sustainability requirements in their briefing documents.
A government department or agency has a range of options regarding how
they can sell land; including by:

 private sale
 public auction
 a formal or informally negotiated tender
 exchange of land.

They can also enter into a joint venture partnership arrangement with other
parties, and this is what LRC did in the case of the IQL, with Lendlease
submitting the successful proposal or ‘bid’ based on their strong track record in
regeneration and their sustainability credentials.

Why develop property?

230 comments

Now that you know more about the IQL development and how it got started,
we’d like to hear what you think should be the primary motivation for
developing property?

What should we value the most about property?

Which quality do you think is most important when
developing property?
Did you find it difficult to choose just one? Developers need to consider the
tensions between these qualities; and explore possibilities for achieving win-
win outcomes (eg where economic and heritage value could be achieved at
the same time by protecting an old building so it becomes a tourist attraction in
the future).

Who are the other stakeholders?

88 comments

A stakeholder is anyone who impacts on, or is impacted by, the property

development process. This means it’s not only ‘professionals’ who are
involved in buying, developing and managing property. We’re all
stakeholders in property because we all need buildings to live, work and
play.
The ‘stakeholder map’ below shows the type of actors who are involved or
impacted when a major brownfield redevelopment project takes place. A
brownfield development is:

the reuse or redevelopment of land that has been previously developed and is
currently underused or vacant. The land might also be derelict or contaminated.

West Dock Street, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. © Paul Glazzard CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Although there are a lot of stakeholder groups included in the diagram below,
each group can be broken down even further. For instance, developers come
in many shapes and sizes and often have their own ‘specialism’, whilst a
central government might include a range of different departments and
agencies, promoting different agendas or supporting other actors.

The Stakeholders
Inset image: Brownfield site development land near the river in Gainsborough, England. © Richard Croft CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Group 1
Architects

Architects and related professionals will be hired by developers to design the

buildings and spaces they wish to create. They will bring their own knowledge
and capabilities to help shape the developments created. For instance, some
architects have led the way in introducing sustainable buildings to the
development industry.

Agents / Valuers

Another set of actors who operate locally, regionally, nationally and

internationally. The main estate agents have a global presence and provide a
wide range of property services to clients. They will certainly employ surveyors
who carry out valuations of land, property and other real estate investment
opportunities. In 2016 CBRE was the world’s largest commercial real estate
agent employing 75,000 people in 450 offices worldwide. A number of other
UK-based agents work globally including Colliers International, Cushman &
Wakefield, Jones Lang LaSalle, Knight Frank, and Savills.

Engineers and Consultants

As we noted in the quiz, various types of engineer will be hired by developers
and construction companies to provide expert advice on different aspects of
the development process. As many brownfield sites require decontamination
and clean-up, environmental engineers are often important players. Other
consultants involved in brown redevelopment projects cover landscape design,
ecology, transport, public relations, marketing and town planning.

Construction Companies

Construction companies will often be given the job of both cleaning-up

brownfield land and then constructing the commercial buildings to be
developed. Given the extra risks involved they might become involved in a
partnership arrangement with the developers and landowners. Housing
developers tend to undertake clean-up and building themselves, but possibly
hiring specialist engineering consultants or firms to help with land remediation.

Group 2
Investors

Investors come in many shapes and sizes, but the main investors in
commercial real estate are the ‘financial institutions’ which include insurance
companies, pension funds and investment trusts. Most of these institutions
operate on a global basis owning property in the main commercial centres, like
London, New York and Hong Kong. Outside of the main cities other investors
tend to be more active, like sovereign wealth funds, wealthy individuals and
specialist investment funds. They often have a less risk-averse attitude than
the financial institutions and have played a more prominent role in brownfield
redevelopment in smaller cities and towns. Investors hold property as a long-
term investment asset, so they operate differently from banks, who tend to
provide short-term finance to developers to cover the initial development
period.

Banks / Lenders

High street banks will lend money to developers to get their scheme
completed. They usually provide short-term finance to cover the development
period to help pay for the land, infrastructure and other construction costs.
They will evaluate the proposed development to estimate the risks involved
and the interest they charge might reflect this. The loans are often secured
against the development, so if developers go bust the banks might be left
holding a half-completed scheme. This has happened during downturns in the
property market meaning that short term finance suddenly becomes rather
longer term!
Developers

Developers tend to specialise in certain types of property, such as houses,

shops or offices. This gives them some expertise in their chosen sector. The
same applies with regard to locality, with regional-based development
companies having a good understanding of the variations in their trading area.
Smaller development companies might just operate in one town or city whilst
global development companies, like Lendlease, will develop property in many
countries.

Group 3
Building Occupiers

Building occupiers can be owner-occupiers or tenants. They can be individuals

or families (for housing) or companies (for commercial buildings) and they will
have variable influence on the nature of the completed development
depending on:


when they get involved,




the ‘openness’ of the developer to occupier engagement,




and the ‘power’ of the occupier given their significance and the state of
market demand.


Local Residents

Many brownfield sites sit within an urban area and are often surrounded by
existing residents, which might be affected by the development in various
ways. They could gain opportunities for employment, housing, leisure or
shopping but might also lose out because of traffic congestion, job loss
(through closure or relocation of existing firms), or gentrification (when their
rents are increased or the social character of their communities change). Local
residents can therefore be supportive or antagonistic towards brownfield
redevelopment or to different aspects of it.

Amenity and Environmental Groups

People with particular interests often join with like-minded people and form
organisations to represent those interests. In terms of brownfield development
some of the most active groups are those trying to protect or enhance
environmental and heritage assets, like wildlife habitats or historic buildings.
Brownfield sites often contain these kinds of buildings or areas, so these
groups regularly lobby local and central government to protect them in the
redevelopment process. Some of the most ‘successful’ brownfield
regeneration schemes have implemented a more ‘organic’ approach by
restoring existing buildings and incorporating ecological areas into the
scheme.

Group 4
Local Government

Local authorities are likely to have many ‘hats’ to wear in brownfield

redevelopment. They often own brownfield sites (totally or in part) and will
seek to gain ‘best value’ from this asset, just like private landowners. They will
need to decide the planning applications for the redevelopment, taking into
account the views of the many stakeholders, like local residents or
environmental groups, and evaluate the proposals against local and national
planning policies. There are a number of other departments in local
government that will be consulted about the scheme, like housing, transport,
education, economic development, environmental health, and social services.
All these ‘hats’ means that the final decision by local politicians might require a
fair amount of internal negotiation and compromise!

Central Government

In the same way that local government is made up of different services and
sections, central government departments will have their own policies and
priorities, which might not always be working towards a common objective.
Internal coordination and negotiation might be required to support brownfield
regeneration between government ministers and departments that deal with
planning, taxation and finance, national economic policy, environmental
regulation, urban regeneration, crime and security, regional policy and social
welfare. There can also be a number of special purpose government agencies
that fund or regulate environmental quality, urban and regional regeneration,
heritage protection, economic development, training and the like. These
agencies are often directly involved in major brownfield projects seeking to
achieve their objectives.

Landowners
Private (and public!) landowners are likely to be key actors in brownfield
development. They might be reluctant to sell their land, and certainly at the
value that developers think is reasonable given all the costs and risks involved.
Research by academics have shown that there are many types of landowner
holding brownfield sites and they have an equally wide range of interests,
motives, strategies and attitudes that will affect whether and how brownfield
land is redeveloped and when.

Utility Companies

Previously developed land often has a good range of physical and social
infrastructure within easy reach, but one of the difficulties with redeveloping it
is that some of that infrastructure (like power lines, sewers, roads, gas and
water pipes, railways, electrical plant and rivers) might be on, under or beside
the site! Dealing with some of these ‘constraints’ can involve a lot of
negotiation and cost on the part of the developer or local planning authority.
Irrespective of this, these and other services have to be provided for in order to
make the new buildings and areas work effectively, so the utility companies
who own and provide these basic services have to be involved in the planning
and development process.

How do Lendlease engage with the

community?
Video Transcript

So far on this course, you’ve discussed the roles involved in real estate
development, but it’s not only ‘professionals’ who are interested in
property. We’re all ‘stakeholders’ in the property development process
because we all need buildings to live and work in.

Watch Ben O’Rourke, Managing Director of the International Quarter London,

discuss the Lendlease approach to community engagement. In the next Step,
you’ll hear from small business owners who own a bakery near the IQL
development.

How important do you think it is to engage with local stakeholders, such

as community groups, during the property development process? What
benefits do you think such engagement may bring to the planning
process?

Stakeholder impact: small business occupier

Video Transcript

The IQL sits in an area in which existing residents and businesses are
affected by the development. These stakeholders may be supportive or
opposed to the scheme.

Watch Alberto Singorelli and Rebecca Stevenson, owners of the cafe

Signorelli explain what the IQL development means for them and their
business. This video provides a largely supportive view of a property
redevelopment, however not all responses are likely to be as positive.

Take a look at the diagram below which includes examples of a range of

stakeholders who could hold very different views about a large property
development.
A diagram showing examples of conflicting voices on a property development. © University of Reading.

Is it ever possible to accommodate all stakeholders? What steps can be

taken to make sure as many views as possible are taken into account
during the planning process? Share your thoughts in the comments
area, below.

Stakeholder impacts: a critical view

108 comments

The IQL is an example of a property-led, regeneration project, in which

the private sector takes a leading role in delivering government
regeneration policy.

Remember that a regeneration project:

improves the environment of a previously unused area, attracting private investment

and business confidence for further investment.

This kind of development has been popular in the UK since the 1980s, and
has been used to achieve a range of regeneration goals, including:

 modernising infrastructure
 creating new ‘flagship’ mixed-use schemes (property developments
designed for multiple purposes. These sites may for example, include
non-commercial buildings such as a community centre) and
 making improvements to residential areas.
Albert Dock, Liverpool, England is an example of a regeneration project which includes accommodation, restaurants and several museums ©Own
work, Jonathan Oldenbuck, C.C3.0 via wikimedia commons

However, some academics, journalists and community activists have been

critical of property-led regeneration. There are a number of reasons for these
criticisms but many relate to:

 the nature of public-private partnerships,

 questions of local democracy and
 gentrification (the process that leads to an influx of more affluent people
into a deteriorating area, often resulting in the displacement of poorer
residents).

Let’s examine these criticisms in further detail.

The nature of public-private partnerships

Property-led regeneration normally involves some kind of partnership between
the public and private sectors, working to meet the objectives of central or
local government. A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is seen by many as a
good way of building ‘synergy’; combining the skills, knowledge and resources
of private real estate companies with those of public sector organisations.
The regeneration process relies on a successful collaboration of partners
providing the following:

 land
 finance
 political (eg local government) and/or community support
 expertise, information and contacts.

As you saw in the previous Step however, partnerships can be fragile and
difficult to operate because each partner has their own objectives, values and
priorities, some of which may conflict with those of others. Conflicts need to be
resolved or managed or they may undermine the work of the PPP, especially if
lines of decision-making and implementation are not clear.

Questions of local democracy

Some have argued that partnership is a way of avoiding conflict by side-
stepping the inherent disagreements that exist in regeneration, and creating a
‘false consensus’ by excluding certain interests that are antagonistic or have
‘unacceptable’ demands. Many PPPs have been criticised for their lack of local
‘democracy’; the range of local views represented is capped and direct
community input is restricted.

Politics is a key component of regeneration but elected politicians may be

perceived as working in the interests of the private sector, including
developers, rather than the people they represent. Another criticism relates to
the role of central government agencies like urban development corporations
which can take a leading role but may act to further distance local communities
from the regeneration practice.

Process of gentrification
Another major issue which has attracted criticism concerns the outcomes of
the property-led regeneration process. Value-creation, for example in local
property markets, is often a goal of property-led regeneration, but some effects
such as increased house prices, might have negative impact, especially for
existing communities.

‘Gentrification’ (itself a contested term) is often used to describe the way that
changes to local real estate markets are brought about by new property
development or renovation. It can have a number of negative impacts on local
communities who were meant to be the beneficiaries of regeneration policy.
For example:
  initial site clearance can displace small businesses who employ local
people.
 The proposed development may not include the kind of buildings needed
by existing residents, possibly drawing-in office workers from further
afield to create a new social mix, with expensive houses and apartments
or high-end leisure and retail spaces.
 Once a scheme comes to an end, or even before it is completed,
property prices and rents may increase in the local area and ‘squeeze
out’ lower income families who cannot afford to pay.

A diagram to show two different approaches to property development ©University of Reading.

The problems associated with property-led regeneration have led some to

believe that more ‘organic’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches to regeneration are
needed. Organisations like the New Economics Foundation provide an
alternative view and a different model of urban regeneration. The arguments
about regeneration and the role of property within this process are complex
and multiple, and these debates are likely to remain on the political and
economic agenda for some time to come.
Glossary
Remember that there’s the A-Z glossary in Step 1.5 which includes definitions
of key property-related words and phrases.

Further reading:
If you’re interested in finding out more about bottom-up approaches, you may
like to look at this case study on Coin Street Community Builders. Are you
aware of any similar schemes in your area? Have they been well received
by existing residents and local businesses? Share your examples in the
comment area below.

The Guardian website has a useful report on a ‘roundtable discussion’ on

regeneration that covers these critical points.

Your local development

92 comments

Now you’ve started to explore the International Quarter London, our case
study for this course, we’d like you to recap on what you’ve learnt so far,
by examining a local property development.

Select a major, mixed-use development near to you and draw a diagram of

who you think the main stakeholders might be, their interests and how the
development provides for them (or not).

Remember a mixed-use development is:

A site developed for different uses that often includes one or more non-commercial
buildings (eg a community centre or a museum).

Take a photo of your stakeholder diagram and a brief explanation to add to our
Course Picture Wall (hosted on Padlet). You may like to add a photo of your
development too, but please note you may have to ask permission. You can
find out more about using Padlet here.

Example

Joe Doak has created a stakeholder diagram for Shipbuilder’s Lane

(Schiffbauergasse), Potsdam, in Germany (you can see a photo of this at the
top of the page) as an example. He’s also provided the following, brief notes:
 Reuse and redevelopment of former gas works and military barracks took
place in 1990s to create mix of uses.
 Initial reuse initiated by squatting artists who established galleries,
workshops and performance areas.
 Subsequent redevelopment incorporated these creative industries,
converted gas holder to major theatre and added commercial offices,
which are now occupied by Volkswagon, Oracle and other companies.
An example of a stakeholder diagram created by Joe Doak (you may prefer to draw your diagram on paper and upload a photo to the Padlet wall).
© University of Reading.

Select one of the case studies submitted by another learner from

the Padlet Wall, and compare it with your example. Can you see any
differences between these developments and your stakeholder diagram?
Add your thoughts to the discussion area.

Societal needs and the role of property

246 comments

Buildings are needed for many things: as shelter for living, as places of
work, leisure and education and as a base for many other services that
sustain modern society.

Buildings need to adapt to changing societal requirements and respond to

environmental change. For example, many office buildings now include a cafe
or a gym and some buildings in flood risk areas are built on raised platforms.

Think about the changes that might happen in the next 50 years. What do
you think this might mean for the property requirements of society?
Share your thoughts in the discussion below.

RICS Futures - Our Changing World

Video Transcript

The surveying profession is very conscious of the need to respond to

new challenges and opportunities. Watch this video by the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) about the role of property in a
changing world.

Are the changes mentioned in this video similar to the ones you
identified in the previous discussion? Is your view of those changes
more positive or negative than the view expressed in the video?

Preparing for next week

56 comments

We hope you’ve enjoyed Week 1.

In Week 2, you’ll explore some of the big issues affecting property
development including sustainability, globalisation and technology. You’ll hear
from some of the Lendlease professionals about how these issues impact on
the development and management of the International Quarter London. You’ll
also hear from lecturers within the Henley Business School about the latest
research into these important influences.

To prepare for next week, take some time to think about how the development
you chose to discuss in Step 1.16, has been shaped or influenced by
sustainability, globalisation and technology. You may find the following
definitions, taken from the course glossary useful. We’ve also included a list of
questions to help you with this task - use them as a checklist to help you think
about your selected building or development. You’ll return to these next week.

1. Sustainable Development

BedZed, UK. ©By Tom Chance from Peckham (flickr: BedZED) CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sustainable Development is a “development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs” (Bruntland report). It emphasises the integration (via win-win-win
outcomes) of environmental, economic and social policy objectives and
contains a continuum of ecological ideas from ‘light’ to ‘dark’ green. Find a list
of questions to consider on sustainable development in this downloadable
PDF.

2. Globalisation

Icons showing the tools used in global exchange of ideas and services.

Globalisation happens when the world becomes more interconnected through

increased trade and cultural exchange. Find a list of questions to consider on
globalisation in this downloadable PDF.

3. Technology
Virtual Reality view of what the IQL development will look like. © Lendlease.

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge and information in the

design, production, and utilisation of goods and services, and in the
organisation of human activities. Find a list of questions to consider on
technology in this downloadable PDF.

Glossary
Remember that there’s the A-Z glossary in Step 1.5 which includes definitions
of key property-related words and phrases.

Survey
If you haven’t already done so, we’d be grateful if you could please fill out this
optional course survey for the Henley Business School and Reading Real
Estate Foundation.

Free extended access and digital certificate.

Don’t forget that on this course you can get a free digital Certificate when you
become eligible. In order to get this certificate, you’ll need to complete 90% of
the course and you can monitor how many Steps you have completed via
your progress page. Don’t forget to mark each Step as complete using the
button in the bottom-right corner.

Before you move on to Week 2, you may like to pause for a moment to think
about the different ways you could get started on a career in real estate. The
Property Needs You website gives an overview of the diverse range of careers
available in the property sector and the different routes into the industry. You
will find out more about these ‘pathways to property’ in Week 3.