2022 Spring Issue - 27

housing as one of the key issues
that affect cities at the Centre for
Liveable Cities. We've done some
studies-comparing Singapore with
Shanghai, for example-which I
think can be helpful in trying to
distill some common principles
from the work we've done and the
knowledge we've gained.
Wickremage: I represent an
institutional investor, so I definitely
keep my fiduciary responsibility
to investors in mind. Also, I'll be
really trying, as Teng Chye outlined,
to keep the focus on building longterm
communities. I think there are
subtle things developers can do to
really integrate physical buildings
into the broader community.
What will success look like within
ULI and in the cities where you
work?
Wickremage: I think it's moving
in the right direction to more
equitable housing, which creates
more vibrant communities, if it's
done effectively. Today, in a lot of
major cities, the topic of attainable
housing is met with animosity as
opposed to fostering a discussion
around creating a healthy longterm
community.
Kavanagh: It is about building
good master-planned communities,
with excellent social infrastructure
such as schools, daycare centers,
and health care-the provision
of service within a reasonable
distance. At PATRIZIA, when we're
investing in housing, we're looking
at the community index score of
that neighborhood and how many
amenities the location provides,
because you can build more housing
in the middle of nowhere, but
you won't have the connectivity
that leads to inclusion. You want
people to be feel part of society
and not have to rely upon the car.
And in addition to accessibility,
you want to have key principles for
building sustainable communities,
with guidance on how to develop
net-zero-energy buildings and
reduce carbon emissions. That's
also where ULI really can contribute
to this whole topic.
Khoo: I have some initial thoughts
on what those 10 principles that
I mentioned earlier should be.
Number 1: build inclusive, socially
integrated communities. 2) Build
mixed-use, self-sufficient, live/
play/work neighborhoods and
towns. 3) Build safe, secure, and
healthy neighborhoods. Then there
are environmental principles: 4)
build green, blue, and naturebased
neighborhoods; 5) build
accessible, well-connected, and
cycling-friendly neighborhoods;
6) build neighborhoods in which
there are circular economies in the
use of resources. Then there's the
economic side: 7) build affordable
homes; 8) build with public/private
partnerships; 9) build homes near
jobs and community facilities.
Then there's number 10, which is
all-embracing: build housing to
achieve livable, sustainable, and
resilient communities with good,
integrated governance, planning,
development, management, and
maintenance. You have to make
sure that you just don't go out and
build housing for a certain category
of people without taking account of
the broader community that you're
part of. You have to make sure
every project or development is
integrated with the rest of the community
and the city.
Walter: We need to see cities
make changes in their zoning entitlement
process, looking at regulatory
and programmatic changes
that make it easier to build a
broader cross section of housing.
If we can get that started, then I
think, ultimately, the real estate
community will step in and begin
to implement in a way that we'll
see the type of housing production
that we're looking for. That's going
to happen at different paces in different
communities. But if you look
at the political leadership in Washington,
D.C., for example, Mayor
Bowser has a strong view that
we need more ranges of housing,
not just expensive housing, in the
District. And it's trying to do that
in a way that's thoughtful about
the risks of gentrification and the
desire to not necessarily focus
the affordable housing market all
in one part of the city. I think the
more that the political leadership
adopts that point of view, that's
the first step in having the political
will to make the changes and get
to where you don't have communities
that are just targeted at one
income strata so that you lose the
benefit of having a true community.
Billy Grayson: It's making cities
more resilient. You need to be both
economically resilient and environmentally
resilient if you're going to
withstand and bounce back from
an extreme weather event. Affordable
housing allows the cops, the
firefighters, the nurses, the home
health care workers to all live very
close to the community that they
are serving-which is even more
important during and immediately
after a natural disaster. UL
PATRICK J. KIGER is a Washington, D.C.-
based journalist and author.
SPRING 2022
URBAN LAND
27
" You have to make sure that
you just don't go out and
build housing for a certain
category of people without
taking account of the broader
community that you're part
of. You have to make sure that
every project or development
is integrated into the rest of
the community and the city. "
-KHOO TENG CHYE
2022 Spring Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2022 Spring Issue
