New year, new talking points
Congratulations on surviving until ’25. Now let this be the last we hear of that particular rhyme; it’s been knocking around for almost 18 months and it’s high time we moved on. So, with apologies, what’s in the mix for ’26?
In no particular order, other than the last being the most important, here’s what we’re likely to spend more time talking about over the next 12 months.
Rethinking infrastructure. Investors are, and investment managers are doing their best to ensure it comes under the real assets umbrella. Its definition is widening too: data centres (physical infrastructure) enable digital infrastructure; industrial and logistics is critical infrastructure; renewable energy fuels green infrastructure. Without transport infrastructure, the government’s 1.5 million home target will be missed and new towns won’t come out of the ground.
2025 promises to be just as transformational for culture. The opening of V&A East Storehouse will transform the way we think about archives, and the new London Museum will redefine the appeal and reputation of the Square Mile. The British Museum will announce the architect that will design its Western Range project, and in Helsinki the winner of the contest to design a home for the new museum of architecture and Design will be revealed. In Venice, Carlo Ratti’s programme for La Biennale Architettura will look to redefine our understanding of the forms of intelligence that shape the build world. With recent announcements putting Smithfield Market on the pathway to becoming a new cultural and commercial destination, should we be further elevating the discussion to include social infrastructure too?
Education, education, education. In terms of sector prospects, beds, sheds and meds have dominated the top 10 investor priorities for as long as I can remember. In the 2025 edition of the PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, there is a gatecrasher into the top 10: education-related real estate (education infrastructure?). Yes, there’s overlap – it includes lab and research spaces after all – but its investor appeal is different. Education facilities, according to one of the investors contributing to the report, “are appealing due to long-term, government-secured rents and affordable construction costs”.
Unknown unknowns. Geo politics especially.
Cities thinking differently about themselves. Oslo’s Is It Even A City campaign helped persuade me to holiday there this summer, while Vilnius poking fun at common misconceptions about itself – and then smashing them – made me want to go there next. (And the broader minded of you might want to be reminded of the latter’s G spot campaign from five years ago.) Branding consultants at other, bigger cities will already be taking inspiration from them for their own campaigns over the next 12-18 months. Perhaps even London, after ING’s own research this spring showed Paris was being talked about more.
Innovation. We need some, if we are to crack some of the built world’s most intransigent problems. Whether it’s tech, financial models, modular construction, secondary offices, rethinking planning, when it comes to innovation, bring it on.
Specificity. Easy for you to say. Having posited the broadest of subjects – innovation – as a talking point, being specific in hunting solutions will be critical. Diversity, for instance, is a continuing problem, a point hammered home in Real Estate Balance’s latest report last week. But where, specifically, are the blockages? And, specifically, what are we going to do about it – individually, corporately and collectively?
Scope 3 emissions reporting is being strengthened but take its underlying principle – understanding and being responsible for your supply chain – and there is a yet bigger obligation. Suppliers are being tested on social responsibility, on diversity, on governance too. That will only grow more onerous.
Under-the-radar sustainability commitments. There may be an ESG backlash in some quarters, but only the language will be dialled down. Don’t expect to have to pay less attention or be any less committed.
We don’t talk about people nearly enough, especially in how the built world impacts on individuals and communities. Rightly or wrongly, there will always be pockets of negativity, and of positivity. But most people sit somewhere in the middle, depending on the issue and perhaps its proximity to their lived experience. If this sector can crack that, and convince more neutrals of the positive impact the sector can have, 2025, 2026 and the years beyond will offer much more than mere survival.