Held in a hybrid format, with an online audience and in-person sessions at the Equarius Hotel on 22 February 2022, the event focused on the future of real estate, with the challenges of a post-pandemic world, including the carbon footprint of urban developments and the ever-present threat of climate change, at the core of discussions.

In his opening keynote address, Desmond Lee, the Minister for National Development, detailed the Singapore government’s long-term plan review (LTPR), which consists of some key aspirations for the country: an inclusive Singapore, an adaptable and resilient Singapore, a sustainable Singapore and a distinctive and endearing Singapore.

“We’ve distilled what people have shared with us [through engagement platforms] into four key aspirations,” the Minister shared. “First, for us to be an inclusive city that meets the needs of people from all walks of life; second, to be an adaptable city resilient to future shocks, including the pandemics we’re living with today; third, to be a sustainable city in light of existential threats like climate change; and finally, to be a distinctive and endearing city that is ultimately home.”

Repurposing vs redevelopment

During a fireside chat that followed his speech, one of the points the Minister touched on highlighted the need to rethink redevelopment as “demolish-and-rebuild” propositions. Instead, adapting and repurposing older buildings could be more culturally significant and environmentally friendly.

“We are a young city, but we have a lot of old buildings that need to be retrofitted, to meet the rising expectation of building performance,” the Minister said.

The first panel discussion of the day “Repurposing Real Estate for The Evolving Community Preferences” delved deeper into this topic. The panel of speakers noted that the concept of repurposing real estate in Singapore isn’t new.

Think old colonial buildings such as the General Post Office, City Hall and Supreme Court all getting a new lease of life as a hotel and – the latter two – an art museum. The challenge now is to repurpose residential and commercial buildings in line with how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we live, work and play.

Because of the shift towards working from home, residential spaces will need to be much more flexible as this trend appears to be here to stay. We also need to re-look brick and mortar spaces in shopping malls, their purpose and design, as more retail and F&B services move online.

This means that property owners will want to start evaluating whether the best value is being optimised from the properties that they currently have. However, Michael Leong, Deputy CEO of SAA Architects, believes that this can be a double-edged sword.

“There’s going to be more pressure to look at redevelopment and reconstruction, and sometimes repurposing is not the first thing that comes to mind because it is not easy,” he shared. “My fear is that the first knee-jerk reaction is to tear down and rebuild and when we do that, our carbon footprint is going to increase and the environment is going to suffer.”

“So I think we all need to be much more aware of the impact that is impending and to raise this awareness that repurposing is very possible, it is very much a better solution than tearing down and rebuilding,” he added.

When discussing sustainability, the panel agreed that social sustainability should be considered, too, when repurposing a building. Keeping the social memory of a place does not just retain charm, it can also increase the value of a property.

The dwellings of the future

During the next session, the panelists discussed the “Future of Living”. The panel acknowledged that construction is not just about buildings alone. It’s about the quality of living, the quality of the city, the quality of the district, as well as connectivity, community and amenities. This is because consumers now have the expectation of purchasing a lifestyle.

Fong Chun Wah, Senior Advisor at the Housing & Development Board (HDB), discussed the public housing authority’s roadmap called “Designing For Life”, with three main thrusts – to live well, live green and live connected. The drivers for this roadmap include the fact that people in Singapore want to live well and live healthily, and that the country has an aging population.

Climate change is a big factor in deciding how new developments are built. According to Fong, the HDB wants to make sure that its new developments are green and sustainable. Older buildings are not forgotten though, as the HDB is going back to review and refresh some of its old developments and improve them in terms of sustainability.

The housing needs of future generations will be different from what they are today, as people look for more flexibility because their household configurations change.

David Hutton, Group Head of Development for Lendlease, explained how this impacts the real estate scene: “People have a lot more options as to where they want to build their capital. They don’t necessarily see their home as being the primary investment so there will be a demographic who want to rent; they want to have investments elsewhere with more flexibility in terms of lifestyle.”

Going for net zero or even carbon-negative

During the closing keynote, titled “Building Back Better, a Net Zero World”, Professor Jason Pomeroy, Founding Principal of Pomeroy Studio, backed a fresh mindset to tackle climate change and spoke about the responsibility that lies with the built-environment industry.

For sustainability and resilience, he suggested really going back to basics, to create more zero-carbon developments and to actually start taking measures to reduce consumption and offset emissions, first through passive approaches and then through active ones.

He also said that aiming for a net zero world, daunting as it may be, might not be going far enough; he encouraged more stakeholders in this sector to consider carbon-negative projects.

“Sustainable developments need not cost more than the average house, it’s about economic design,” he said. “Green development can increase in resale value, rental rates and higher occupancy rates, as well as have lower operating expenses. Therefore, it’s not just about the product but ensuring that there is a sustainable process in place to deliver that sustainable product.”

“[We should all] listen to civil society, augment that with the role of academia to test new ideas within sandbox environments, have agile governance, plus have private funding for early initiatives,” he added. “This will allow us to scale and help us head to a better place.”