Planning, Land and Real Estate Development

The programme aims to prepare students for a future role as city developer, either in the public or in the private sector.

This specialisation provides a land and real estate development perspective on urban development. Cities face continuous processes of both expansion and transformation. Population growth and economic growth lead to expansion, while processes of obsolescence and decline lead to a demand for urban transformation projects. These processes usually require investments in land and property (re)development, while planning interventions provide guidelines to investors, sometimes as opportunities, but also as barriers to what an investor might see as a profitable investment.

The type of investments and the requirements to these investments change over time. Many European cities have 'matured' and increasingly have to deal with urban transformation, while megacities in Asia and Latin America still show rapid growth. The global financial and economic crisis has slowed down real estate investments, leaving cities with stalled developments. Climate change and policies for sustainable urban development have put new challenges to land and real estate investments, but have also created new opportunities for smart city developers.