At the end of September, London’s streets were packed again. Oxford Circus was back to its pre-pandemic crowded self and the excitement of the city in motion was palpable. In Paris, in October it was impossible to get a taxi and the metro overflowed at rush hour.
My flight to Copenhagen this morning was full. Cities are back. And they should be because this is where everything happens. This is where people want to live.
I recently came across this quote from the University of Pennsylvania’s professor Mark Alan Hughes: “People create cities to find refuge, facilitate exchange, and construct meaning. They sustain cities to establish freedom, acquire identity, and curate knowledge. And we trust cities to maintain health, promote nature, and ensure survival in the face of existential challenges like climate change.” His point was that everything good happens in cities.
A lot goes on in cities. Arguably, the best of the human experience comes out in cities as people from so many different backgrounds figure out ways to live together. Through that they propel society forward. As this progress is made by its inhabitants, cities themselves must continuously evolve to continue thriving and catering to their populations.
Greener living
As property professionals within the living sector, we have a responsibility to help drive forward the right types of changes in how we deliver buildings, changes that need to address the most pressing issues facing cities. At a minimum, we need to consider climate change, housing affordability, and social isolation for our future communities.
A lot is being discussed and improved around sustainability and how to reduce our carbon footprint. City living is actually a lot greener – less sprawl and more shared resources – from the energy we use in each of our homes to how we get around by public transportation. There is room for improvement in the materials we use and how we recycle, but overall, large, dense cities are cleaner and more energy efficient than smaller ones, suburbs, or small towns.
City dwellers do have a higher propensity to rent, partly due to home prices being out of reach for many, which has led to high demand for quality rental housing, with much of the existing stock being of poor standard.
As more developers and operators have entered the space, they have sought to differentiate themselves with innovative offers – ever-improving amenity spaces that allow residents to stay fit or to socialise with their neighbours, constantly evolving convenience such as smart building technology, and a whole suite of on-site services.
Fit-for-purpose housing
This drive for bringing forward quality rental housing has also led to looking for ways to innovate for different types of groups. Purpose-built student accommodation has led the way in the UK, with a model that caters perfectly to modern students’ needs for independence, safety, and school-centred communities. Then built-to-rent provided an improved model for quality rentals offering residents security of tenure, well-designed and well-maintained apartments and spaces, as well as a whole host of other convenient services for residents and their pets.
Greystar’s own communities offer great examples of both and their transformation over time.
New models are continuing to evolve within the rental space, as we recognise that not all needs are met by existing templates. To continue this evolution, it is important that our industry pays attention to long-term demographic trends, including the rise of single-person households and our increased life expectancy.
In practical terms, we also need to look at the communities that we operate today and what our residents expect in terms of more adequate options for everyone. Our own residents tell us this means that not every person requires a minimum of 37 sq m when living on their own. Different age or demographic cohorts also wish to interact with each other and should be supported to do so in mixed communities.
Housing that is fit for purpose has to address all segments of the population, otherwise cities will hinder their own progress. In the quest for better housing solutions, local authorities should support emerging models and help to build upon new ideas and concepts for faster delivery of appropriate dwellings.
The pandemic has taught us that people like other people and want to be around them. Densification supports sustainable living and brings us all closer together to continue building inclusive cities in which we can thrive.
Adina David is director of flexible housing at Greystar
