Placemaking has long been the buzzword of the real estate world, but aside from the anecdotal benefits it has often been hard to measure the tangible advantages, that is, until now.
Looking at 11 global placemaking initiatives in the UK, Australia, USA, Italy, Denmark, Germany, France and South Korea, CBRE together with Gehl Architects have examined the ways in which public spaces contribute to the human experience of urban areas and create long-term real estate value, both before and after the public realm intervention has taken place.
In London, Granary Square, King’s Cross formed part of the study. The results in this location are of particular interest from a real estate perspective, with the stand-out performers being retail and residential. While average house prices in prime Central London rose by 48% between 2011 and 2016, average prices in King’s Cross have increased by 61%. There has also been a marked improvement in retail quality with strong brands attracted to the location, where retailers are attracted by increased dwell time amongst users of the area. It is concluded that this is a function of the quality of the public realm adding to the human experience, combined with the fact it offers both good connectivity and a community feel. It is concluded by the study that without the introduction of high-quality design of the public realm, this vast new area of development would struggle, or at least would not have been as successful, in establishing a reputation in the market as a desirable location for retailers, employers, residents and visitors alike.
The study demonstrates how well thought-out placemaking initiatives can have positive impacts on both the quality of urban spaces and how people experience them and command to use them repetitively. It is no coincidence that good placemaking can, in turn, realise positive incremental effects on real estate values.
As a business, we recognise the importance of taking a holistic approach to identifying, creating and delivering development opportunities and how this can drive demand and create value longevity. This is a combination of evolving innovative occupational solutions internally as much as enhancing the experience through complimentary amenities, wellbeing and place making.
Creativity is key; this is something which in the recent past has not been ignored across certain schemes, and this trend is a ‘must have’ if spaces and real estate are to remain resilient. For planners, it means designing for an enhanced human experience of urban areas. This means maintaining any good-quality public space that exists through using innovative and up-to-date measures, and embarking on a quest to make more of it available. It also means that proposed new developments should be judged on their ability to enhance public life alongside any employment, housing and infrastructure benefits.
For developers and investors, value resilience depends on the success of the place. Not all developments will have the ability to create an outdoor public realm that is free to use, but some will. Where there is opportunity to enhance the brand of a building and location using well-designed public realm, this should be taken. Merit also exists to introduce public realm within the internal workings of space, to enhance the human experience of users.
For end users, who are concerned with recruiting and retaining increasingly scarce talent and/or attracting a cross-generational group of residents, proximity to great public spaces is important. From an occupational perspective, the boundaries between work and leisure time are ever more blurred, so the walls of the workplace become ever more permeable. The public realm and the work-anywhere culture are inextricably linked: for people who can work anywhere, public realm can form a vital part of drawing them to a particular place.
