PERSONAL COMMENTARIES OF PLACEMAKING EXPERTS
Just as the Covid-19 pandemic blurred the lines between office and home in 2020, the office of the future will need to combine elements of work, life, and experience in order to be competitive in post-pandemic city center locations, writes Nicole Pötsch, Head of Acquisitions & Sales for North & Central Europe at Allianz Real Estate.
“Health and safety will always be our first priority, but a tiered approach to the new Covid measures could help avoid blanket national closures.”
“Christmas as an opportunity, especially in difficult times, to give people what they are longing for so much: happiness, the memory of the best moments of their childhood, heart-warming feelings and emotions.”
“On high streets, we might expect light, bright, and welcoming spaces designed for casual gamers, which reflect the synergies between gaming and other creative industries.” | By Nicky Wightman
Shopping Centers in the Baltics amid Covid-19: Visitor Footfall Is Down, Though More Is Being Spent per Visit.
“It would have been naive to think that, somehow, the Eastern countries could have transitioned from communism to laid back consumerism without going through the small versus big Kulturkampf that we have all experienced.” | By Michael MacBrien
“We remember the impact food trucks have had. Those ideas can be developed further.” | By Chris Igwe
“Kicking the addiction to yesterday’s retail to attract crowds back again.” | By Ibrahim Ibrahim
At HyperIn our mission is to offer the leading retail real estate management platform for connecting digital and physical consumer journeys. We truly believe that shopping destinations will also in future be lively places for consumers to visit and get inspired. However, this requires that landlords will be able to deliver all these experiences in a convenient way, like it is expected in 2020.
The best shopping centers must be underpinned by a technology platform powered by high density, connected technology infrastructure, technology services and real-time, actionable shopper data, delivering a highly personalized experience for how shoppers want to engage with the destination. It must be an online to offline to online journey and it should be continuous not just at a few key times a year.
“Several shopping centers have already established second-hand item exchange days for their shoppers. Malls are perfect locations for such activities, and the opportunities go beyond leasing floor space to second-hand stores.”
“It will be important for retailers – particularly smaller retailers that do not have their own online platforms – to be connected to a larger, joint partnership-oriented platform and to utilize their own stores as warehouses as well to make deliveries to buyers from the stores.”
“Many of the key trends that were driving our business before Covid-19, such as the digitalization of retail, sustainability, urbanization, community engagement, and social trends are here to stay.”
“The technology exists to offer tenants a way to contact their customers with safety messages and special offers when they arrive on site, as well as new Coronavirus safety innovations, such as in-car queuing systems.”
Despite the pandemic and nearly two months of lockdown, Westgate Shopping City has continued to open new stores and attract visitors. The shopping center in Zagreb is prepared to face the realities of the near future, which are sure to be challenging.
“Building and system behavior is automatically learned and provided with forecasts. After all, weather, customer footfall, opening hours, etc. have a strong impact on individual energy requirements.”
“With trillions of euros to spend, the European Green Deal and Covid-19 recovery plan want to retrofit the continent’s building stock. Retail brands should get ready.”
Chapman Taylor Director Jens Siegfried believes that the Covid-19 emergency has highlighted the pressing need for mixed-use urban regeneration, as the trend towards online shopping accelerates. Drawing on Chapman Taylor’s experience, he writes about the way forward for urban regeneration, with a particular emphasis on a well-considered mix of functions and context-sensitive design.
“In times of crisis we must adapt or die, while taking care of our employees and the communities that we serve.”
“We from HyperIn partnered with Helsinki-based retail placemaking agency Propdea Oy to contribute a more holistic approach to serve the industry decision makers.”
