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The ULI Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate’s latest semiannual consensus forecast of real estate and economic indicators anticipates a 5 percent decline in real gross domestic product (GDP) for this year, with increases of 3.6 percent and 3.2 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The semiannual survey based on the median of the forecasts from 43 economists and analysts at 37 leading real estate organizations completed in late September through early October, also anticipates this year’s unemployment rate to be 8 percent, declining to 6.6 percent in 2021 and 5.5 percent the following year.

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.

Agile workplaces, equipped with the right technology to accommodate remote and in-person employees, and with equitable access to work-supporting resources, are likely to emerge in the pandemic’s aftermath, said experts from Zendesk, Gensler, and LinkedIn.

Because their decisions are lasting, real estate professionals must lead the way to cutting carbon emissions by 50 percent in this decade and by 100 percent by 2050, Spencer Glendon, senior fellow at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told participants during the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting. He exhorted real estate leaders to pressure others for change, even to beg for regulation, in order to avoid potentially chaotic migrations as people eventually abandon areas rendered undesirable or even uninhabitable by rising temperatures and drought. “You can’t do this alone. You must demand better regulation,” he said.

U.S. real estate economists predict generally improved economic and property market news for the rest of 2020, as well as for the following two years, compared with their forecasts of six months ago, according to the fall 2020 ULI Real Estate Economic Forecast.

ULI MEMBER–ONLY CONTENT: As other segments of the real estate business adjust to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession, the industrial sector is looking to capitalize on greater demand for its facilities resulting from the explosion of e-commerce, panelists said at a Trends and Outlooks session during the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting.

Early engagement with the community and inclusion of culturally significant art can create developments that benefit the existing community and lead to greater return on investment.

Which emerging real estate technologies will become the must-haves, and which will be the near misses? You can take your chances on a $100 doorbell, but if you are investing millions in a property or trying to run a profitable business, you cannot afford to waste resources on fads. Those two questions—what are the unintended consequences, and which technologies have staying power—are themes running throughout this special issue of Urban Land.

Ian Wilson, senior vice president of nongaming operations and chief operating officer, Marina Bay Sands, addressed the 2019 ULI Asia Pacific Leadership Convivium, explaining how the resort-casino operator uses data in its operations.

Affordable housing challenges are not limited to urban centers or technology hubs. Smaller towns often struggle to house their workforces and—perhaps less noticeably, but no less acutely—so do agricultural operations. Agriculture employs 11 percent of the U.S. workforce, while also contributing to manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing. The sector is also suffering from a dire labor shortage that has the potential to disrupt the entire food chain.