SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leaders from across Asia and the world will converge in Shanghai, China to explore and consider solutions for some of the most pressing economic and social issues facing the built environment sector. The sector has become the focal point for the impacts of global developments such as urbanisation, changing climate and resource scarcity. City resilience and competitiveness, affordable housing and infrastructure provision are amongst the key challenges.
To explore these global challenges, RICS is convening the World Built Environment Forum Annual Summit in Shanghai on 27 and 28 March 2017. The Summit provides an international platform that brings together governments, industry and civil society leaders to work collaboratively and ultimately find solutions we need for the built environment.
“Our sector defines and shapes our world through the direct processes of planning, construction, building use, renovation, renewal and replacement. We want to explore the challenges, find common approaches to tackle them and present workable long-term solutions. The built environment is also a product of humankind’s social, political and economic evolution. As a global professional body working across land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, RICS has created the World Built Environment Forum as a platform for meaningful engagement that leads to powerful change for citizens and the communities in which they live, no matter where they live.” – Sean Tompkins, RICS Chief Executive Officer
Asia’s infrastructure demands, global impact
A report by PwC and Oxford Economics* estimates that 60% of global infrastructure investment by 2025 will occur in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily driven by China. Energy, transport, housing and water supply will be key areas for new investment.
This year’s Annual Summit will focus on the globally impact of China’s economic development, including:
- The global macro trends that will affect the built environment of the future, with a focus on China and wider Asia: What strategies should we adopt to take account of disruptive changes to create and sustain vibrant real estate markets, and to fund infrastructure needs?
- The One Belt, One Road initiative is China’s biggest ever spending programme reaching out to beyond Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. What are the lessons learned from the world’s leading gateway cities and from city development in China? How can Chinese cities attract investment and how can cities globally compete for Chinese foreign direct investment in infrastructure and real estate?
"China and the wider Asia Pacific region are driving economic development that will be felt globally for generations to come. The built environment is central to all of this. As the world’s most populous city and a global financial centre, Shanghai epitomizes the challenges we face in creating vibrant, sustainable and resilient spaces to live and work. This is the perfect location for RICS to convene the second Annual Summit of the World Built Environment Forum to stimulate discussions on matters of global relevance." – Will Myles, RICS Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific – based in Singapore**
Senior government officials, corporate occupiers, property professionals and representatives from international regulatory bodies and financial services institutions will contribute to discussions. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Wen Wang, Executive Dean at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.
The first World Built Environment Forum was held in April 2016 at the Summit of the Americas in Washington DC. See last year’s keynote by former US Treasury Secretary, Dr. Larry Summers.
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About RICS
Confidence through Professional Standards
RICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing confidence to the markets we serve.
We accredit 125,000 professionals and any individual or firm registered with RICS is subject to our quality assurance. Their expertise covers property, asset valuation, real estate management; the development of infrastructure; and the management of natural resources, such as mining, farms and woodland. From environmental assessments and building controls to negotiating land rights in an emerging economy; if our members are involved the same professional standards and ethics apply.
We believe that standards underpin effective markets. With up to seventy per cent of the world’s wealth bound up in land and real estate, our sector is vital to economic development, helping to support stable, sustainable investment and growth around the globe.
With offices covering the major political and financial centres of the world, our market presence means we are ideally placed to influence policy and embed professional standards. We work at a cross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will support a safe and vibrant marketplace in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, for the benefit of all.
We are proud of our reputation and work hard to protect it, so clients who work with an RICS professional can have confidence in the quality and ethics of the services they receive.
About the World Built Environment Forum
The World Built Environment Forum is a global network of professionals who create and manage the environments the world needs. It sets the standard for dialogue and cooperation that is vital for our sector. The Annual Summit offers a regular meeting place for the World Built Environment Forum to discuss the most pressing challenges and identify practical solutions, and to network with international peers. Held in a different urban hub every year, the next Annual Summit will take place in Shanghai in 2017 and in London in 2018.
Notes to the editor:
* The Pwc/Oxford Economic report can be found at https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/capital-projects-infrastructure/publications/cpi-outlook/assets/cpi-outlook-to-2025.pdf
** Will Myles is based in Singapore and is available for interviews. See his biography here: https://www.wbefshanghai2017.com/Assets/userfiles/sys_eb538c1c-65ff-4e82-8e6a-a1ef01127fed/files/Will%20Myles%20Bio.pdf