At a ULI Austin event, speakers said that government, nonprofit, and business initiatives are tackling Austin’s homelessness predicament by, among other things, proposing temporary structures known as Sprung shelters and seeking to convert motels into longer-term housing.

Developments showcased at the 2020 ULI Carolinas Meeting included transit-oriented affordable housing, gleaming new downtown office towers, an opportunity zone development for technology tenants, and a new recreation center for Clemson University students using mass timber.

Since 2014, the United States has averaged 300,000 more household formations per year than residential permits issued. While the number of residential construction workers has increased to meet the need, more housing is still needed. If the United States could return to pre-2006 ratio of 2.1 new residential permits for every residential construction worker, there would be almost 400,000 additional housing permits per year, all without adding a single new employee.

Panelists at a ULI New York event shared some of the plans for the future by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to leverage both public and private investments to update the three airports that serve New York City.

Strong economies, healthy job creation, and significant population increases continue to be reported across the Southeast.

Whether it’s evaluating the negative impacts of single-family zoning in cities or blending single-family rental communities with apartments, developers are working to create more housing by taking new approaches, said panelists during the 2020 ULI Tampa Trends event.

The Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) has prepared a 40-year vision for connecting and rebalancing growth and development in Greater Sydney, one of the fastest-growing regions in the developed world. In an event organized by ULI Australia and Urbis, GSC chief commissioner Lucy Turnbull presented the keynote, outlining how land use, transport, and infrastructure planning for the growth areas have for the first time been prepared concurrently.

Panelists at the 2020 ULI Tampa Trends event said that smart parking and traffic sensors are already being incorporated into large projects, and Microsoft is funding the use of artificial intelligence at the University of South Florida’s medical school.

“Cities need to grow to thrive,” Dan Doctoroff said. “But we can’t take growth for granted.” Doctoroff is the chairman and CEO of Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet. Doctoroff was speaking at the 2020 ULI Europe Conference.

Renowned real estate entrepreneur Wolfgang Egger, who founded PATRIZIA AG over 35 years ago, has won the 2020 ULI European Leader Award. Rising star Hala El Akl, a director at PLP Architecture, was named the ULI European Talent Award winner in the ULI European Leadership Awards. The awards recognize industry leaders in Europe whose contributions to urban development and real estate, along with civic and social endeavors, exemplify the spirit and mission of ULI.