Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo opened the 2022 ULI Europe Conference discussing the two crises impacting Europe: war on the European continent and the lingering global pandemic.

Yesterday’s general session titled “Real Estate, Construction, Infrastructure, and Logistics” was delivered by Dr. Parag Khanna, managing partner of FutureMap and author of Connectography: Mapping the Future of Civilization.

The spring 2020 issue marks William P. Macht’s last as author of Urban Land’s widely popular column, Solution File. While the column will continue under other expert bylines, we wanted to take a moment to honor Macht’s past 20 years of contributions to the magazine and to industry thought leadership.

In a world where consumers have grown accustomed to streaming whatever movies they want on demand and having purchases delivered to their doorsteps the next day, commercial real estate needs to focus its efforts in innovation on providing better consumer experiences, panelists said at the “Innovative Trends in Commercial Real Estate” session at the 2021 ULI Fall Meeting in Chicago.

First launched in 2017, the podcast Leading Voices in Real Estate (LVRE) recently celebrated it’s 100th episode. The podcast is hosted by Terra Search managing partner and founder Matt Slepin and has featured many of ULI’s leaders including ULI CEO Ed Walter. Slepin recently hosted a two-part discussion of the challenges facing the commercial real estate industry tackling climate change.

The latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms that the last five years have been the hottest since 1850, and that “it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land.” As the built environment accounts for nearly 40 percent of annual global carbon emissions, action needs to be taken.

The real estate industry is tackling the twin challenges of a cyclical downturn juxtaposed with the long-term consequences from the disruption caused by COVID-19, and the environmental, social, and governance agenda becoming increasingly important.

ULI MEMBER–ONLY CONTENT: ULI full member John McNellis considers how real estate professionals have survived financial winters of the past and present.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, ULI is highlighting people and projects that have worked to advance gender equity and parity in the real estate industry. The Institute’s commitment to addressing the industry’s gender gap is formally seen through the Women’s Leadership Initiative.

There is still time to register for ULI Europe’s flagship event, the ULI Europe Conference, taking place February 8–10, for the first time as a virtual event. Keynote speakers participating in the conference include Lord Norman Foster, founder of Foster + Partners; Carlos Moreno, associate professor at Sorbonne University Paris and a leading proponent of the 15-minute city; Peter Frankopan, professor of global history at Worcester College, Oxford University; Philippe Close, mayor of Brussels; and Ric Lewis, executive chairman of Tristan Capital.