It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. So Michael Burton went to Cannes to check out the mood among UK and international delegates for the 20th anniversary of one of the world’s largest city regeneration and property events
While the sun shone on Cannes at one of the world’s largest urban regeneration and property events a fortnight ago, the mood within the French city’s huge exhibition hall was more sombre.
With the credit crunch and recession having decimated the property industry, it was hardly surprising that MIPIM’s attendance fell by one-third on last year, down to 18,000 from 29,000. Gone were the champagne-soaked receptions on yachts, fuelled by profits from ever-spiralling property prices. Gone was the villa reception by King Sturge and the parties from the likes of Jones Lang Lasalle or CB Richard Ellis. And, whereas the UK representation from the public and private sectors was always the largest by country, this year, for the first time, it slipped to second after France, with 1,083 UK organisations present compared with France’s 1,100.
The core business of the four-day MIPIM event is based on exhibitors, principally the public sector, cities, regions and sub-regions, promoting their regeneration sites to private sector investors and developers. Surrounding this fundamental buying and selling process is a huge amount of networking and schmoozing, while the organisers have added in some gravitas through serious conference sessions and a growing guest list of city politicians, including a private lunch for mayors.
As the commercial property market soared, so, in the past few years, the event grew ever more lavish as cities looked to private sector investors to provide the catalyst for urban infrastructure renewal and the investors flashed their wallets. The UK’s core cities and regions as well as the RDAs generally had representation at the event, although the Cannes factor has tended to put off many other councils even while, in contrast, it has always been a major attraction for the private sector.
In the past few years, the UK’s numerical dominance has been challenged by cities from the former Soviet Union states, which moved in with fat cheque books and huge exhibition stands. Last year’s MIPIM event, with some 28,000 participants, was its biggest ever, even though – or perhaps even because – the market was on the edge of the precipice. Then came the crash.
Nonetheless, there were many who maintained the event this year, its 20th, was better because those who attended were more senior, although, as one delegate commented, ‘People are talking about deals rather than doing any’. And this year the public sector presence was even more important, even though it, too, was down on previous years. Among the mayors and city administrators from some 200 cities and regions were London’s Boris Johnson and two former French prime ministers, themselves now mayors of provincial cities, including Alain Juppe of Bordeaux.
Traditionally, the two biggest stand areas at MIPIM are taken by Paris and London. This year was no exception, although both were more subdued in scale. In the London area, more than 200 companies shared the space, with projects such as King’s Cross, the Olympics, Crossrail and suburban centres, including Croydon and Park Royal on display, together with the GLA, LDA and City of London.
Rather than champagne flowing, three lounge areas, the City, East London and the West End, were created for delegates to do serious business over coffee. On show, for example, were Croydon’s £450m centre project with John Laing, which also includes a new town hall, and its own stand included private sector sponsors. Among speakers at the London stand were Boris Johnson who used his speech to promote the Olympic legacy.
Facts and surveys flowed, even if the champagne this year did not. Despite the downturn London still manages to remain the world’s leading financial centre, according to the Global Financial Centres Index presented at MIPIM. Second is New York, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Zurich and Geneva.
Among the top 15 developments in western Europe, London’s Stratford City was the only UK project to feature, at eighth. And, in terms of investment in Europe by major retailers, the UK last year was seventh, with Turkey and Russia in the lead, although CBRE describes London, Moscow and Berlin as the leading retail centres for investment. A separate survey from Cushman & Wakefield of 202 locations in 57 countries found that London, the world’s most expensive office location for the past nine years, had slipped to third place behind Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Global investment in commercial property fell 59% in 2008 to the lowest annual total since 2004, and volumes will fall again in 2009. While the US accounted for 25% of all global investment, the UK’s share was 9%, ahead of Japan and Germany
A survey from the UK Saint Index, which polls public attitudes to property development, even found that the UK, compared with the US and Canada, is a nation of NIMPYS. Those who have actively objected to a development have apparently increased from 13% in 2007 to 21% now.
While the public sector presence at MIPIM was down this year, some UK cities, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Coventry and Glasgow, were in evidence, while Leeds City Council promoted its concert and events arena.
This year was also the first major overseas outing for the UK’s new Homes and Communities Agency, whose chief executive, Sir Bob Kerslake, toured the conference halls and hosted a reception on the last night at the prestigious Carlton Plage, the marquee opposite the hotel of the same name.
Not surprisingly, it was well-attended, since the HCA was about the only entity at the event with deep pockets. It has some £500m to spend the remainder of this financial year, and has already announced funding for several stalled London projects. And while the focus of MIPIM is on commercial property, the plight of the homeless was not forgotten, with the Global Housing Foundation promoting its work to use the private sector to build inner-city, affordable housing.
With the credit crunch and recession having decimated the property industry, it was hardly surprising that MIPIM’s attendance fell by one-third on last year, down to 18,000 from 29,000. Gone were the champagne-soaked receptions on yachts, fuelled by profits from ever-spiralling property prices. Gone was the villa reception by King Sturge and the parties from the likes of Jones Lang Lasalle or CB Richard Ellis. And, whereas the UK representation from the public and private sectors was always the largest by country, this year, for the first time, it slipped to second after France, with 1,083 UK organisations present compared with France’s 1,100.
The core business of the four-day MIPIM event is based on exhibitors, principally the public sector, cities, regions and sub-regions, promoting their regeneration sites to private sector investors and developers. Surrounding this fundamental buying and selling process is a huge amount of networking and schmoozing, while the organisers have added in some gravitas through serious conference sessions and a growing guest list of city politicians, including a private lunch for mayors.
As the commercial property market soared, so, in the past few years, the event grew ever more lavish as cities looked to private sector investors to provide the catalyst for urban infrastructure renewal and the investors flashed their wallets. The UK’s core cities and regions as well as the RDAs generally had representation at the event, although the Cannes factor has tended to put off many other councils even while, in contrast, it has always been a major attraction for the private sector.
In the past few years, the UK’s numerical dominance has been challenged by cities from the former Soviet Union states, which moved in with fat cheque books and huge exhibition stands. Last year’s MIPIM event, with some 28,000 participants, was its biggest ever, even though – or perhaps even because – the market was on the edge of the precipice. Then came the crash.
Nonetheless, there were many who maintained the event this year, its 20th, was better because those who attended were more senior, although, as one delegate commented, ‘People are talking about deals rather than doing any’. And this year the public sector presence was even more important, even though it, too, was down on previous years. Among the mayors and city administrators from some 200 cities and regions were London’s Boris Johnson and two former French prime ministers, themselves now mayors of provincial cities, including Alain Juppe of Bordeaux.
Traditionally, the two biggest stand areas at MIPIM are taken by Paris and London. This year was no exception, although both were more subdued in scale. In the London area, more than 200 companies shared the space, with projects such as King’s Cross, the Olympics, Crossrail and suburban centres, including Croydon and Park Royal on display, together with the GLA, LDA and City of London.
Rather than champagne flowing, three lounge areas, the City, East London and the West End, were created for delegates to do serious business over coffee. On show, for example, were Croydon’s £450m centre project with John Laing, which also includes a new town hall, and its own stand included private sector sponsors. Among speakers at the London stand were Boris Johnson who used his speech to promote the Olympic legacy.
Facts and surveys flowed, even if the champagne this year did not. Despite the downturn London still manages to remain the world’s leading financial centre, according to the Global Financial Centres Index presented at MIPIM. Second is New York, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Zurich and Geneva.
Among the top 15 developments in western Europe, London’s Stratford City was the only UK project to feature, at eighth. And, in terms of investment in Europe by major retailers, the UK last year was seventh, with Turkey and Russia in the lead, although CBRE describes London, Moscow and Berlin as the leading retail centres for investment. A separate survey from Cushman & Wakefield of 202 locations in 57 countries found that London, the world’s most expensive office location for the past nine years, had slipped to third place behind Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Global investment in commercial property fell 59% in 2008 to the lowest annual total since 2004, and volumes will fall again in 2009. While the US accounted for 25% of all global investment, the UK’s share was 9%, ahead of Japan and Germany
A survey from the UK Saint Index, which polls public attitudes to property development, even found that the UK, compared with the US and Canada, is a nation of NIMPYS. Those who have actively objected to a development have apparently increased from 13% in 2007 to 21% now.
While the public sector presence at MIPIM was down this year, some UK cities, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Coventry and Glasgow, were in evidence, while Leeds City Council promoted its concert and events arena.
This year was also the first major overseas outing for the UK’s new Homes and Communities Agency, whose chief executive, Sir Bob Kerslake, toured the conference halls and hosted a reception on the last night at the prestigious Carlton Plage, the marquee opposite the hotel of the same name.
Not surprisingly, it was well-attended, since the HCA was about the only entity at the event with deep pockets. It has some £500m to spend the remainder of this financial year, and has already announced funding for several stalled London projects. And while the focus of MIPIM is on commercial property, the plight of the homeless was not forgotten, with the Global Housing Foundation promoting its work to use the private sector to build inner-city, affordable housing.
The future global city
Mayors and chiefs from the world’s leading cities are meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, next month for a conference on the future of
urban living.
The event, Global City, was originally a spin-off from MIPIM, launched in 2005, and for its first two years was held in Lyons, France. It will be held in the United Arab Emirates for the first time on 7-9 April at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
Speakers from the UK include Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities; Clive Dutton, director of planning and transportation at Birmingham City Council; and Wilben Short, head of transport, London 2012.
In addition to a mayors’ panel, the organisers will also host a ‘leaders’ summit,’ a collaborative platform for new ideas and thinking on mobility patterns in modern cities.
Details from www.globalcityforum.com
Mayors and chiefs from the world’s leading cities are meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, next month for a conference on the future of
urban living.
The event, Global City, was originally a spin-off from MIPIM, launched in 2005, and for its first two years was held in Lyons, France. It will be held in the United Arab Emirates for the first time on 7-9 April at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
Speakers from the UK include Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities; Clive Dutton, director of planning and transportation at Birmingham City Council; and Wilben Short, head of transport, London 2012.
In addition to a mayors’ panel, the organisers will also host a ‘leaders’ summit,’ a collaborative platform for new ideas and thinking on mobility patterns in modern cities.
Details from www.globalcityforum.com
