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U.S. retailers and their landlords are embracing the pop-up phenomenon in different ways to meet specific goals, speakers said at the ULI Spring Meeting in Philadelphia.

The ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, held in Seattle this year, is as thought provoking as it is fun, providing a chance to reflect in a broad sense on how the next generation of land use professionals will be planning, designing, and developing our cities. Find out which team won this year and learn about the approach it took to an inner-ring Seattle suburb.

The performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) outpaced the broader markets during March and ended the first quarter with a 5.86 percent total return. The U.S. economy appears to be maintaining its growth trajectory in spite of global economic uncertainty and weakness in oil markets. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.

Six data center real estate investment trusts are posting outsized returns this year. The sector has a market cap of $45.6 billion and year-to-date returns have totaled 13.06 percent, including a 3.01 percent dividend yield. Growth in data use and cloud computing is the driving force behind the sector’s expansion. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.

The “cell” or village concept is an effective design solution to a problem that Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, once identified: “All the implications of ‘sprawl’...are driven by one fundamental problem: the mismatch between where we live and where we work.”

The Urban Land Institute has endorsed the Urban Street Design Guide, published last year by the National Association of City Transportation Officials. The guide embraces the unique and complex challenge of designing urban streets, aiming to make streets safe for people whether they are walking, biking, using transit, or driving.

Glenda Hood, former mayor of Orlando, and Joe Riley, former mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, were joined by Joe Buckhorn, the longtime mayor of Tampa, in a discussion about their legacies as mayors at the ULI Florida Summit in Tampa.

At the recent ULI Europe Real Estate Forum, attendees heard from three speakers who are using innovative techniques to transform the management of their assets. The techniques described vary significantly, but all help create lively, dynamic spaces that help create a sense of community.

Two urban parks—Levy Park in Houston and Madrid Río Park in Madrid, Spain—have been selected as winners of the ULI Urban Open Space Award. The award recognizes outstanding examples of successful large- and small-scale public spaces that have socially enriched and revitalized the economy of their surrounding communities. Ricardo Lara Park in Los Angeles was also honored with a Special Community Impact recognition.