A growing group of developmentally disabled children and young adults will need housing that allows them to live away from their families but still provides the medical, therapeutic, and vocational support they need.

During the next 15 years, more than 500,000 children with autism-related disorders will become adults, many cared for by aging parents who likely will not outlive them. Adults with autism currently have few options for housing apart from their families. They are too old to receive continued care from the special education departments of public schools and too fragile to live on their own with no supervision.

To many people, the idea of modern design as a solution to homelessness might seem impractical, if not paradoxical. What does one have to do with the other? Quite a lot, especially for Team HETED (Homeless Empowerment Through Efficient Development), winner of the ULI Los Angeles 1,000 Homes Competition. Going up against five other teams formed by local experts in architecture, design, development, finance, construction, and social work, Team HETED delivered the most viable housing solution to a serious problem endemic to Los Angeles.

Two megatrends are currently shaping what will become the new normal after the prolonged period of recovery for the U.S. economy. The first is the rapid emergence of America’s metropolitan areas as the true centers of population and economic growth. For the first time in history, more people are living in urban areas throughout the world than in rural communities.

The second is a worldwide shift in the sources and flows of global capital, creating a new world of funding sources available to be configured in new ways toward new goals. The fluidity of global streams is becoming more pronounced and vast sums of capital are seeking stable, long-term returns.

Five leaders in residential real estate development discuss U.S. housing development trends: why smaller unit and lot sizes are becoming more common, which neighborhoods are holding value in the economic downturn, how demographic shifts are likely to influence the buyer and renter markets, how the public sector is working with the private sector to help keep planned developments alive, and how the recession has affected the movement toward incorporating sustainable design.

In the current economic downturn, job prospects in the real estate development industry can seem scarce. However, development has always been about reinvention to meet a constantly changing market. The following ten real estate professionals illustrate a variety of career reinvention possibilities. Listed in alphabetical order, they have all changed jobs within the past five years, taking on a different role in the industry— not necessarily because of the recession, but because they saw new opportunities in a dynamic market. Some have become consultants, some have founded their own firms, some have gone to work in the public sector, and some have joined firms in a related profession. They discuss what drew them to their new jobs, how their previous work informs their current work, and how they are drawing on and broadening their expertise.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen may have ended without an international commitment to specific greenhouse gas reduction targets, but the development community still needs to prepare to meet stringent targets in the next five to ten years. Both California and the U.K., among others, have already started down the path that the rest of the world is likely to soon follow.

A focus on affordable living considers both housing costs and commuting costs, an element the federal government now says it is serious about using as a benchmark.

Well positioned for near-term recovery, Boston is starting to address impediments to development and the city’s high cost of living in order to facilitate longer-term growth.

The visual evidence of Boston’s approach to planning and development, from preserving its historic character to planning for the future, showcases the city’s best assets. One of the nation’s greenest cities, Boston is a biotech hub and has one of the most improved public education systems in the country.

As the concept of sustainable design spreads, and tools like the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system expand in acceptance and application, a movement is taking shape that is driving sustainable design toward a more holistic and systemic approach: ecodistricts—neighborhoods that generate all their energy from on-site renewables.