Sorouh Chief Property Development Officer Gurjit Singh delivers sector insights at Global City 2009

In a speech entitled 'Sustainable Urbanisation Trends: America, Europe and the Middle East', Mr Singh said, "Rapid urbanisation 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," Singh added.

"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," he said.

Mr. Singh 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.

He continued, "As an adjunct to managing places there are the subcomponent needs of managing communities. A lot of the development precincts have strata ownership and it is very important that strata legislation is implemented to create transparency in the ownership and management of common property. With the adoption of the strata legislation there is bound to be a realignment of service charges and sinking funds, which will lead to numerous disputes. As such, a framework to support the dispute resolution of these issues needs to be implemented."

The Global City Forum was held at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi on 7th & 8th April as an international forum where public & private leaders exchanged best practice and shared sustainable urban strategies.