A three-part series of interviews at the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting examines the issues that have led to underinvestment in neighborhoods that have been predominantly African American, displacement that can occur as part of gentrification, and other topics.

“Accelerate” is the watchword in Emerging Trends in Real Estate ^® 2021, this year’s edition of the renowned trends and forecast report released by ULI and PwC during the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting.

Global growth in e-commerce spurred by the coronavirus pandemic is boosting investor interest in a “new economy” asset class dominated by data centers and logistics facilities, speakers said in early September at a session during the ULI Asia Pacific REImagine conference.

Four teams have been selected as finalists in the 20th annual ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, an event that challenges teams of graduate students to devise a comprehensive design and development plan for a real-world urban site in Oakland, California.

The University of Texas at San Antonio can create a new vision for its Institute of Texan Cultures that advances the museum’s mission, strengthens the university’s presence in the Hemisfair District, and supports the San Antonio community, according to a report released by ULI. The report is based on recommendations from a panel of land-use and resilience experts convened in June through the Institute’s virtual Advisory Services Panel offering.

At the ULI Spring Meeting in San Diego this year, attendees will have the opportunity to tour the University of California, San Diego, campus in La Jolla and witness recently completed and under-construction buildings that integrate living and learning, foster collaboration and entrepreneurship among students, and appeal to members of the wider community. The changes on campus benefit from the new Mid-Coast Trolley extension route, which opened in November 2021.

Stakeholders across the real estate value chain are increasingly recognizing that the climate crisis and biodiversity loss are deeply interlinked, and one issue cannot be solved without addressing the other. However, solutions are ready and available for real estate to implement today, according to a new report out of ULI’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance: Nature Positive and Net Zero: The Ecology of Real Estate, sponsored by Jacobs.

Undermanaged and underinvested for years, the newly unveiled, amenity-rich Chicago redevelopment appears prescient.

Growth pours north out of Dallas, the city nicknamed “the Big D,” and one result has been a boom in the suburb of Frisco, which earned the title of the nation’s fastest-growing city of the 2010s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Frisco’s growth has spread to nearby Celina, which has grown 10x since 2010.

Settegast, a neighborhood in Northeast Houston, is home to a resilient and tight-knit community that has mobilized in response to decades of discriminatory practices and under-resourcing. As a result of systematic neglect, Settegast residents face challenges such as displacement, gentrification, and most notably, poorer health outcomes, including the lowest life expectancy rate in Harris County. To find solutions, ULI Houston partnered with Harris County Public Health, the Houston Land Bank, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and convened community residents and real estate leaders to build trust and chart a more equitable future for the neighborhood.

Over the past 18 months, ULI Toronto and partners forged an understanding of the trends, pressures, and challenges experienced by Toronto’s Black population to shine a light on how history is shaping the present. The team documented Black displacement and Black settlement patterns in the Toronto area, focusing on the Mount Dennis neighborhood, which has faced disinvestment. The perspectives and priorities of Mount Dennis residents were gathered to inform development priorities and future projects.

Sites in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, are home to a painful and complicated history that many neighborhoods in rapidly growing regions are familiar with. To combat the region’s history of racially biased land use and transportation decisions, ULI Northwest joined forces with local leaders to reimagine two sites: one in Tukwila, near Seattle, and the other on the edge of Portland, Oregon.

Third edition evaluates top 30 global powerhouses report reveals world’s leading urban hubs rise in popularity post pandemic. Challenges include new economic conditions, rising costs, adaptation to hybrid work, innovation gaps, the climate imperative, and transition to social, mixed-use districts.

Guy Kawasaki—chief evangelist at Canva, former chief evangelist for Apple, and bestselling author—summed up insights gleaned from his years in tech and as host of the Remarkable People podcast, interviewing such luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Tony Fauci, Jane Goodall, and Steve Wozniak.

As congregations across North America grapple with shrinking membership and aging facilities, a new opportunity is emerging: transforming faith-owned land into affordable housing and community-serving spaces. At the 2025 ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco, panelists in the session “Spiritual Brownfields: Declining Congregations and Opportunities for Housing on Faith-Owned Land” explored how churches and developers are partnering to bring mission-driven housing to underused sacred sites.