Developers that follow a sustainable approach to managing urbanization, with sound place-making and place-management frameworks in place will be the long-term winners in the UAE real estate industry, said Gurjit Singh, chief property development officer at Sorouh Real Estate PJSC, speaking on Wednesday at the Global City Forum. In a speech entitled “Sustainable Urbanization Trends: America, Europe and the Middle East”, Singh said: “Rapid urbanization is putting pressure on urban areas everywhere which causes impacts on the all aspects of the urban environment. Place-making and place-management frameworks address these needs and must be set in place at the onset of urban development management. “The Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 is a good guide to the coherent place-making and place-management framework for Abu Dhabi, as it brings together the principles of balanced sustainable development in the creation of new urban areas within the capital.” “More and more emphasis is being placed on sustainability. Property and facility managers have to include in their skills the management of carbon footprint reduction. Abu Dhabi is taking a lead in this respect,” he said. “In search of business excellence in the place-making and place-management profession, research into the industry is needed and the recent initiative to form a local branch of the Society of Property Researchers in Abu Dhabi is a step in the right direction.” “As the industry matures, the various proponents must come together to create industry representation through the formation of a Property and Facility Management Association to ensure there is self-regulation and maintenance of quality in the profession,” Singh further said. He said that a property management Code of Practice needs to be drawn up and adopted by all service providers to ensure that standards of place management are maintained. __
