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The role of entrepreneurs in transforming cities and the impact new technologies are having on how buildings are designed, constructed, and managed were two major topics at the ULI Chinese Mainland’s Winter Meeting, held in Shanghai in December.

A flexible service office provides business space on a flexible, short- to medium-term basis to occupiers, especially larger corporations and companies that want to test a new market/location, small and medium enterprises, and startups. Read about the market links between these flexible spaces and traditional offices.

At a ULI 2011 Fall Meeting session titled “HUD Catalysts for Repositioning Neighborhood Markets,” a yet-unauthorized new HUD program called Rental Assistance Demonstration was described that would allow Section 9 public housing and several other HUD housing programs to convert to Section 8. Read more to learn how this program is just one part of HUD’s larger strategy to preserve rental housing.

“The market is better now than it’s been for several years,” says Jon Wilson, chair of the ULI Triangle Council. “We’re starting to see seeds of change,” says Wilson. “The Carolina coastal area is traditionally a second home market. There was a lot of product in the pipeline, including some that had been stalled because of financial problems.” Read about the growth and predicted growth in the second home, and other, markets.

Humanity has reached the limits of centralization and scale, and needs a return to light, space, and nature for fulfillment, says Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

With property in high demand in Berlin—it had the largest year-over-year real estate price increase of any city in the world last year—it makes more sense than ever to look up for new opportunities. A number of developers have found success (or are hoping for a top return) from add-on projects atop existing structures in Germany’s capital.

Preparations are already underway in Dallas for the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting, which the city will host October 24–27. A high-profile session will feature Roger Staubach, executive chairman of JLL Americas and former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback, who forged a highly successful career in real estate following his retirement from the National Football League in 1980.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized projects in communities in New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee as winners of the 2015 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.

In the Belgian municipality of Edegem, just a 20-minute bike ride from Antwerp’s city center, a brownfield site that once stored camera film has become a biodiverse, sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood.

It’s no secret that insurance costs for commercial real estate have been rising significantly for many property owners across Europe, which, in turn, affects net operating incomes for many of them. Many factors are at play to explain the surge in higher premiums, including expensive and scarce reinsurance, inflation, and regulatory restrictions.