San Francisco can create a more commercially vibrant and socially inclusive downtown that attracts a diverse range of industries and employers, advances housing attainability, and promotes stronger leadership, according to findings released by ULI.

Ethnic and cultural diversity, combined with a reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants, has long been a strength of the Greater Toronto Area—and it has also influenced the city’s development, panelists cautioned at ULI’s 2023 Spring Meeting.

Urbanizing suburbia is something many developers are looking to achieve, adding density as land prices rise. San Diego and its surrounding area have been prime locations for use of this strategy. On Thursday, a panel at the ULI Spring Meeting in San Diego explained the thought process and how to execute on this goal, focusing in particular on life sciences architecture.

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Khoo Teng Chye, who is on the faculty of Engineering and the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore, has been appointed chair of ULI Asia Pacific. Khoo, a fellow and former executive director at the Centre for Liveable Cities, began his three-year term in July, succeeding Nicholas Brooke, chairman of Professional Property Services Limited in Hong Kong.

A recent ULI panel of development professionals partnered with the city of Tampa, Florida, to advise on the city’s major initiative to increase the availability of attainable housing throughout the community.

Under the Clean Energy D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act, the District is planning to move entirely to renewable electricity by 2032, with the goal of cutting the city’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by that year as part of its broader commitment to becoming entirely carbon neutral by 2050. To meet those goals, building owners will be required to make energy retrofits on about half of the buildings in the city. To help owners prepare for these changes, ULI partnered with the DowntownDC Business Improvement District for an Advisory Services panel in July.

According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population of Washington, D.C., topped 700,000 residents last year, the first time since 1975. But the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments estimates a shortfall of more than 200,000 housing units by 2025 to meet the projected job growth and transportation system performance in the urban core of the D.C. region. A ULI Washington Impact Task Force report addressed two main barriers to opportunities for supply growth and attainability: navigating the entitlement and approval processes, as well as gaining community acceptance through engagement and participation.

A new ULI report argues for bold planning and effective reforms to bring Warsaw to life. Based on a series of workshops that brought together the city of Warsaw and real estate investors, the Grow with Warsawreport concludes that better cooperation between stakeholders will provide a strong foundation for growth in the city and sets out a series of recommendations based on a city competitiveness framework.

Speaking at the recent ULI Europe Conference, two mayors described the paths that elected officials in their cities took in rebuilding from the economic collapse of manufacturing, while embracing diversity as a means to turn around their cities’ fortunes.