GCC has global investment and development magnet promise, says ULI Chairman

Speaking ahead of this week's ULI conference in Abu Dhabi, Todd Mansfield, the Institute's Chairman, says the world-wide development industry has now woken up to the opportunities the Gulf Co-operation Countries and United Arab Emirates now hold out.

"The rest of the world is absolutely aware of the real estate investment and development potential of the region, which holds enormous promise as a global magnet for investment and development," said Mansfield.

But the ULI Chairman emphasized that the region must embrace sustainable development if it is going to compete on the world stage.

"While every market is different, cities and regions around the globe are sharing growing concerns over sustainability," said Mansfield. "These sustainability issues include concerns over managing population growth, responding to demographic changes, building enough affordable housing, improving transportation and other infrastructure, and protecting the environment.

"All of these factors have an impact on sustainability. Regions around the world - including the GCC - are realising that building sustainable communities is the only way to achieve economic, social and environmental well-being, and remain competitive on a global basis."

Sustainability and responsible land use will be at the forefront of a ground-breaking one-day conference ULI is hosting in Abu Dhabi this Wednesday (February 13th) - the first ULI conference staged in the UAE capital.

The conference, at the seven-star Emirates Palace Hotel, will see world-renowned urban planners outline trends, opportunities and challenges in building sustainable developments.

Mansfield believes the conference is crucial in bringing best practices to the GCC and in the regional sharing of insights into its achievements and challenges.

"ULI's outreach in the GCC is an opportunity for land use professionals in the region to benefit from others' knowledge. The point is to share ideas and lesssons learned, so that our members around the world may benefit from our highly interactive process of sharing information," he said.

ULI has established a Middle East Council which now boasts 200 members regionwide.

"ULI's intense outreach in the region is illustrative of the great interest our members have in cultivating business relationships and working with local land use professionals to pursue land use investment and development opportunities," explained Mansfield.

The ULI Chairman said this week's conference is one of a number of initiatives the Institute has launched in the region. Others include the planned establishment of a ULI Real Estate Education centre in the new Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority/Tourism Development & Investment Company headquarters being built in the UAE capital and a tie-up with the Dubai Urban Planning Committee to evaluate an urban planning framework for the emirate.

"It is essential that we extend our programme of work in this part of the world that has so much to offer in terms of contributions to the built environment," Mansfield added.