In October, the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance announced an additional goal to reduce the operational carbon emissions of its members’ collective buildings to net zero by the year 2050. Eleven ULI Greenprint members have already publicly committed to this target on top of the 50 percent carbon reduction goal by 2030 that all ULI Greenprint members have already pledged.
Two new reports released by ULI highlight the state of the real estate industry’s adoption of health and social equity practices and the need for the industry to better promote those already in existence. The protests for racial justice that spread throughout the United States and beyond during the summer, along with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have elevated health and social equity as focus areas for real estate practitioners.
Government policies of racial segregation and redlining have had generations-long effects on the health and well-being of urban inhabitants, attendees heard at the ULI Virtual Fall Meeting panel titled “Deconstructing Segregation: Understanding Local History as a Basis for Equitable Development.” Action will be required if we wish to change those outcomes now.
The COVID-19 lockdown imposed by San Francisco in late February devastated the city’s small, independent businesses, and especially its restaurant scene. But creative city policies could help nimble retailers survive, panelists said at the ULI Virtual Fall Meeting session titled “Vibrant Retail Streets in the Age of E-tail and COVID-19: Is It Time for ‘Retail First’ City Policies?”
Two new ULI reports provide possibilities for expanding and enhancing parks through collaborative partnerships and the transformation of spaces for cars into places for people. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of community outdoor spaces. Parks, trails, streets closed to automobiles, and public plazas have been some of the only places that have allowed people to maintain physical distance while still being able to exercise, relax, play, gather in small groups, or make short trips safely—crucial activities for lowering stress levels, reducing symptoms of depression, and maintaining physical health.
Christina Contreras, principal and founder of Living Ecology Studio in Denver, has been selected as the ULI/Martin Bucksbaum Senior Visiting Fellow. During her one-year fellowship, Contreras will explore how privately owned and managed “third places” can better contribute to individual and community health and well-being, and will develop a “pattern book” for designers and developers to create welcoming and thriving privately owned “third places.”
The benefits of creative placemaking, along with best practices and successful case studies in cities throughout the United States, are explored in the ULI report, Creative Placemaking: Sparking Development with Arts and Culture. The report presents the business case and process for successful creative placemaking, defined in the report as a process that integrates arts and culture with good design.
A group of nationally recognized land use, resilience, and urban planning experts representing ULI will be making recommendations to the city of Dallas, Texas, on how to promote greater social cohesion near the Walnut Hill and Denton Drive Dallas Area Rapid Transit station while promoting climate resilience and environmental justice.
The ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance has announced the addition of three new members to its executive board from industry-leading organizations such as JBG Smith, ZOM, HR&A.
Kansas City, Missouri, can help tackle the city’s racial division by establishing a more equitable process for parks and recreation investment, according to a report released by ULI. The report advises the city to listen to the broad-based needs of the community and establish a new parks conservancy to raise funds, advocate for improvements, and deliver programs that activate the public realm.
