FOCUS CORPORATE REAL ESTATE
RETURN TO REALTY
The world’s leading real estate conference MIPIM returned in March, and
the need to meet Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives
formed the backdrop for much of the discussions. Craig Peters,
Consultant at Magenta Associates reports
36 APRIL 2022
2022 signalled the return of MIPIM
a er a three-year hiatus. Over 20,000
delegates from more than 80 countries
congregated in Cannes, France, for the global
real estate conference against a backdrop
of the global pandemic, environmental
concerns and, now, the war in Ukraine.
François Hollande, former French President,
opened the conference with a keynote address
on Tuesday 15th March. The conference
theme ‘Driving Urban Change’ encouraged the
industry to explore and discuss the challenges
of climate change, a ordability, liveability, and
technological innovation in cities.
‘Driving Urban Change’ would be covered
across six sub-themes: The Cities for Citizens
– The big debate; Housing First – Back to
essentiality; Green is the new black – The new
deal; The o ice uprising: Innovating to bounce
back; Real Estate: much more than an asset – a
jump in a financial market; and Real Estate Tech
– Future is now!
THE RESURRECTION OF THE OFFICE?
A‰ er so many people were forced to work
from home these past two years, there was an
overwhelming belief at MIPIM that 2022 would
see somewhat of an o ice resurrection. Recent
o ice occupancy data in both the UK and
London from workplace technology company,
Freespace, revealed that Thursday 10th March
was the busiest o ice day since before the
pandemic in March 2020.
Mark Dixon, Founder and Chief Executive of
global workspace provider IWG, joined a panel
to discuss the implications of the hybrid work
revolution. “Almost all workers will work in
a much more flexible way in the future,” he
said. “It’s practical. Workers want what’s good
for them. They want to be productive and to
support the company they work for, and they
don’t want to commute too far. They want local
and convenient working. It’s about working
from anywhere and being productive. And the
hybrid model is desired by most people and
companies, who are looking to reduce their
carbon footprint.”
Dixon also acknowledged that technology has
facilitated the hybrid work model and intrigued
the audience by suggesting that “massive
amounts of new technology is in the pipeline
that will make collaborative work possible
without people being in the same space”.
The panel boldly agreed that in three years’
time, MIPIM will look completely di erent
because the geography of work and building
design will rapidly evolve. This presents a
significant change for the real estate industry
and its investors with buildings becoming more
like a series of platforms that workers use as
opposed to individual assets.
Environmental, Social and governance (ESG)
provided an overarching backdrop to many of