Cushman & Wakefield publishes in-depth report with blueprint for city redesign Page 1

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a leading global real estate services company, today announced results Reshaping Cities: Breaking the Urban Decline Loop—an in-depth research report that examines 15 U.S. cities to identify the real estate portfolios that cities currently have to have opposite to what they need, given how much the economy has changed after the pandemicA number of important findings emerge from this.

1. Cities, especially economically important, walkable urban areas near the core, violated portfolio theory in real estate marketsThis is especially true for inner cities, where 70% of the real estate surface area currently consists of offices.
2. There is an optimal product mix for real estate markets to move towardsThis optimal mix for most cities averages 42% employment (office, owner-occupiers, GSA), 32% residential (multi-family for sale and rental), and 26% play (retail, hotel, and other sports/entertainment).
3. Reimagining these walkable urban places will benefit all stakeholders in the cityThese small, walkable pockets of the city account for just 3% of the city’s land mass, 25% of the city’s real estate footprint, but 37% of the city’s tax revenues and 57% of the city’s GDP. When these places fail, the entire city suffers.

Developed in partnership with Places Platform, LLC, a real estate solutions technology company co-founded by co-author Christopher B. Leinberger, who is also the Charles Bendit Distinguished Scholar & Professor Emeritus and Chair of the Center for Real Estate & Urban Analysis at the George Washington University School of Business, Reshaping cities looks at the recent past and likely future of 15 major US cities, answering critical questions about their economic health, how “doomsday scenarios” can manifest, and how they can be turned into “virtuous cycles.”

The report outlines four key strategies needed to revitalise cities and town centres and ensure they remain vibrant and attractive, including:

1. Reduce the share of real estate intended for work, especially in inner cities;
2. Increasing the share of space intended for residential use, particularly in inner cities;
3. Increasing the ratio of homes for sale within Live; and
4. Improved Play component to increase traffic

“Our research is really a call to action,” said Kevin Thorpe, Global Chief Economist at Cushman & Wakefield. “Some of our great cities and inner cities are at risk of falling into an urban doom loop, a cycle that is very hard to break. The crux of the matter is that some of the real estate that most cities have today made sense for the economy 20 years ago, before hybrid work, but it no longer makes sense for the economy. Our inner cities and central cities are transforming with the knowledge economy, but also with the experience economy. Cities are increasingly about experience and consumption, not just knowledge production. Thanks to this research, we now have the data, we know where the problems are and we know what the solutions are. Doom loops are not inevitable, but the time to act is now.”