There are many pressing economic and social issues facing the built environment sector. It has become the focal point for the impact of global developments such as urbanisation, the changing climate and resource scarcity. City resilience and competitiveness, affordable housing and infrastructure provision are among the key challenges.
To explore these global challenges, RICS is convening the World Built Environment Forum Annual Summit in Shanghai on March 27 and 28. The Summit brings together governments, industry and civil society leaders to work collaboratively and ultimately find solutions we need for the built environment.
“Our sector defines and shapes our world through the direct processes of planning, construction, building use, renovation, renewal and replacement. We want to explore the challenges, find common approaches to tackle them and present workable long-term solutions. The built environment is also a product of humankind’s social, political and economic evolution. As a global professional body working across land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, RICS has created the World Built Environment Forum as a platform for meaningful engagement that leads to powerful change for citizens and the communities in which they live, no matter where they live,” said Sean Tompkins, RICS Chief Executive Officer.
Asia’s infrastructure demands, global impact
A report by PwC and Oxford Economics estimates that 60% of global infrastructure investment by 2025 will occur in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily driven by China. Energy, transport, housing and water supply will be key areas for new investment.
This year’s summit will focus on the global impact of China’s economic development, including:
• The global macro trends that will affect the built environment of the future, with a focus on China and wider Asia: What strategies should we adopt to take account of disruptive changes to create and sustain vibrant real estate markets, and to fund infrastructure needs?
• The One Belt, One Road initiative is China’s biggest ever spending programme reaching out beyond Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. What are the lessons learned from the world’s leading gateway cities and from city development in China? How can Chinese cities attract investment and how can cities globally compete for Chinese foreign direct investment in infrastructure and real estate?
Perfect location
“China and the wider Asia Pacific region are driving economic development that will be felt globally for generations to come. The built environment is central to all of this. As the world’s most populous city and a global financial centre, Shanghai epitomises the challenges we face in creating vibrant, sustainable and resilient spaces to live and work in. This is the perfect location for RICS to convene the second Annual Summit of the World Built Environment Forum to stimulate discussions on matters of global relevance,” said Will Myles, RICS Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific – based in Singapore.
Senior government officials, corporate occupiers, property professionals and representatives from international regulatory bodies and financial services institutions will contribute to discussions.
The keynote address will be delivered by Wen Wang, Executive Dean at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.
The first World Built Environment Forum was held in April 2016 at the Summit of the Americas in Washington DC.
RICS is a global professional body promoting and enforcing professional qualification and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
