LOVE YOUR CITY: 6 X 6

Little about Hong Kong

The city was a British colony from 1842 to 1997. The National Geographic described Hong Kong's history as "one of rapid growth, political turmoil, and continual demands for change." Hong Kong has returned to China on 1st July 1997 under the under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.

The Urban Landscape

Hong Kong covers Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories, including 262 outlying islands. Hong Kong’s terrain is mostly hilly and has steep slopes. Also, about 40 percent of Hong Kong’s land is designated as Country Park to provide habitats for biological species. Due to these reasons, the actual amount of developable flat land in Hong Kong is very limited, making its population density the fourth greatest in the world.

The Population and Language

Hong Kong is famous for international trade and financial investment. Because of this, the city is very urbanized. It has more than seven million residents in a little more than 400 square miles, and 100 percent of the population lives in urban areas. A lot of the foreigners misunderstood Hong Kong speakers Mandarin, not really! In Hong Kong, nearly 90% of the population are Cantonese speakers where only 1.9% speaks Mandarin. English is Hong Kong's second official language other than Cantonese.

The Biggest Urban Challenge in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has long been suffering from a housing shortage and high sales and rental prices. According to CBRE, Hong Kong is the priciest city in the world to buy a property, with an average price of US$1.25 million. Hong Kong is also the third most expensive city to rent with an average monthly rent of US$2,681, coming after New York and Abu Dhabi.

Lagos| The most populated city in the world and one of the world’s largest cities. Located on the Western Coast of Nigeria, there are over 21 million residents living in a 356 861 hectare area. Everyone seems to be going somewhere fast, always on the move, always on the go. The city is characterized by a motivated atmosphere. Lagos was founded by the Awori, who are a tribe of the Yoruba people, in the 13th century. The city has been Nigeria's premier city since at least 1861. Lagos was part of the United Kingdom’s West African Settlements from 1866 to 1874. In 1914, Lagos was named Nigeria's political capital, retaining that status until 1991 when Abuja formally became Nigeria's new federal capital territory.

Lagos prides itself as a megacity. The real estate market is continually on the rise in the city. Estimates show that Lagos grows 2-3% each year, which equates to more than 630 000 new residents every year in numbers. The city is bounded by the state of Ogun to the north and east, by the Bight of Benin to the south, and by the Republic of Benin to the west.  Lagos spreads over what used to be the four main islands: Lagos, Iddo (now attached to the mainland), Ikoyi (now attached to Lagos Island), and Victoria (now the tip of the Lekki Peninsula). The city is dominated by islands, sandbars, and lagoons. A system of bridges connects some of Lagos’s islands to each other and to the mainland. The city currently stands as the 6th largest in the world by city population.

Development in Lagos is taking place by converting coastal wetlands into urbanized communities. The growth of urbanization will ultimately impact on soil erosion, biodiversity, infrastructure demands, and public health. There are 14,3 Million citizens in Lagos. The city is known for its beach resorts & nightlife. It is also known for being a financial centre, being home to most banks and other financial institutions such as the Stock Exchange. The city handles 80% of the Nigeria's imports. The city's population consists of between 70–80% of the Yorùbán tribe; 15% Nigerians and the remainder are non-Africans. There are 4 dominant languages spoken in Lagos: standard Yoruba and its dialects, Igbo, pidgin English or indigenous Nigerian English and English.

There is a wider Strategic Transport Master Plan which includes:

• an integrated transport system that links road, rail and waterway networks;

• a new airport further away from the urban environment;

• the development of mixed-use urban developments combining residential and commercial areas to reduce the number of journeys people need to make;

Welcome to Love Your City, where we focus on the relationship between real estate or property, depending how you refer to it, technology & people.

The 2020 series starts off with a 10-part series that will look at cities: to better understand the LIVE| WORK| PLAY model, with the continuous evolution in residential, commercial, retail and industrial real estate/ property. Especially when we look at the urbanization that will be central to cities well into the future!

When you think of a smart city, you think of a place that allows you to live, work & play in a modern scenario. This means a seamless integration, between real estate/ property (from residential to commercial), continuous  evolution in terms of the tech. applications that complement these assets, to improve the lives of the citizens (as well visitors) to these cities.

With that said, we look at Singapore to understand what sets it apart from all the other cities in the world. Its recent title as the smartest city in the world comes after a survey done by Swiss business school IMD & Singapore University of Technology & Design, in a collaboration called the IMD Smart Cities Index. The index focused on how cities are implementing digital technologies to improve the lives of those that live in it.

So what makes this city stand out?

The index measures how cities perform when it comes to green spaces & how they are maintained, how local institutions that exist are made more efficient, making employment opportunities to be digitized for ease of access as well as providing security to those that are custodians of the city - which are the citizens.

Having a government with a long-term vision, which sees the public sector being extremely efficient and having very low corruption, has gone a long way in allowing the city to rank above all others in the index.

So, I guess you want to know  the 3 areas that contributed to Singapore being the smartest city in the world.

1) Having a healthier population: initiatives such as the health city novena allows for a community-focused health plan. There are walkways for pedestrians,  underground car parks & outdoor green spaces from a property/ real estate perspective, which complements the experience for citizens & patients.

2) The housing development board of Singapore has done what a lot of governments use as part of their election manifesto: free public housing for all their citizens. Despite that its a relatively small city-state, it has created spaces that are liveable, sustainable & ready for growth. It's an impressive accomplishment when you consider that 80% of the country's population lives in these types of housing. You can imagine the great deal of financial planning & allocation of this inclusive housing that takes place. This needs to consider racial harmony that has to be implemented as well as the insurance that covers these assets.

 3) And lastly its mobility. The city has excellent infrastructure, from roads, ports to airports. Efficient transportation has played a pivotal role in the smart city model of Singapore. It allows for commuters to have a mix of walking & cycling that is complemented by mass rapid transit & buses. There are smart traffic cameras which restrict traffic depending on volume, easing the commute for thousands of passengers daily. This has allowed citizens to reduce pollution through sustainable energy use, which allows for recreational spaces that are liveable. Active lifestyles ends up being the norm, where the advanced technologies are applied for mobile communities.

So what can other cities learn from Singapore?

Clever application of technology is all well & good in terms of what a smart city is all about, but it becomes pointless when it doesn't improve the quality of life for its citizens (as well as visitors). 

Welcome to this week’s LOVE YOUR CITY where we chat all things PROPERTY, TECH & PEOPLE.

 Is it not crazy for people who have are used to great amenities from their experiences with hotels and short-term rentals, to want those same options available in their own homes? Adopting technologies that modernize functions and improve resident experience to differentiate themselves in a competitive environment is key. Property owners and operators are starting to create Airbnb-like experiences for residents. These tend to be a once-off experience that allows these owners to deliver best-in-class resident experiences while creating new revenue streams for themselves. Rental property owners need to create value for their residents if they want to hold onto them. Cleaning, dog walking, dry cleaning and fitness services are some of the hotel-level amenities that apartment firms are offering residents. The evolution is pretty cool to see considering that having a beautiful building in a prime location was everything! 

Building owners and operators need to evaluate the value for their customers with technology that disrupts the organization and its daily operations. This approach extends beyond the short- term/vacation rental industry. Having applications that allow you to have the ability to determine how far mobile devices are from a specific location or how much time a mobile device spends in one place from another, are valuable insight when you look at shopping centres for instance. After all you want to know the number of customers you have versus how many potential customers you have in a target area. For instance to develop the ideal tenant mix requires analysis of the mobile data generated around a property and fusing this information with household behavioral considerations, to allow owners to make better decisions. 

A great example of this is the recent strategic partnership between Hotelbeds & easyJet Holidays . The bedbank has signed a five-year accommodation supplier agreement with the airline, with easyJet set to feature handpicked hotels from the platform on its website. The Hotelbeds platform provides access to more than 180,000 unique hotel properties around the world. Hotelbeds has the experience, technology and hotelier relationships available to help airlines implement and grow their tour operating volumes. This deal adds to the over 40 airlines that currently partner with Hotelbeds, including the recently announced partnerships with Singapore Airlines and Luxair. 

We’ll talk about the 14 best African tech products that were announced at the recent AppsAfrica Awards, which drew interest from over 400 applications from innovators in 52 countries across the continent. Those that are relevant for our chat include Lori Systems (Kenya, Best Mobility Solution), a logistics platform that is revolutionizing the cargo-transport value chain, One Kiosk Africa (Nigeria, Best mCommerce Solution), first online retail platform for convenience stores, RippleNami (Kenya, Best Blockchain Solution), the first visualization platform that consolidates big data and provides information that really matters to users, Carbon (Nigeria, Best Fintech Solution), which allows users to transfer funds, pay bills at lower fees, buy airtime, get instant loans without collateral, and invest money. Liquid Telecom (Kenya, Best IoT Solution),a leading independent data, voice and IP provider in eastern, central and southern Africa, MOJA (Kenya, Disruptive Innovation Award), which is the largest web portal in the country & Flutterwave (Nigeria, Changing Africa Award), an online payment technology. 

All the winners at the 2019 AppsAfrica Award are expected to participate in the Africa Tech Summit, slated for 2020 in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. At next year’s event, the winners will have access to sponsorships and partnerships from Africa and beyond.

The story of Airbnb is one that has become the cornerstone of proptech, for a company that initially wanted to be an air mattress rental company and has evolved to become one of the most successful digital companies ever. Now a US $ 42 billion startup and on the verge of an IPO scheduled for 2020, they have recently signed a worldwide deal to back the next 5 Olympics! This will cover events in Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles.

The deal is estimated at $500 M in cash and services, will cut costs for the cities that will be hosts and minimize the need to build hotels. These are the views expressed by the International Olympic Committee to the deal structure. The deal though sees Airbnb entering Paris, LA and Tokyo as cities that have tightened short-term leasing rules recently.

Past research done has shown that companies that announce their involvement with World Cups and Olympics have a positive effect on the company’s share price. So with the upcoming IPO this deal will this show a sign of confidence in the company?

Have they learnt anything from WeWork’s attempt to be a public company and what will they do differently? Especially looking at investors who have become weary of free-spending companies, looking at this Olympics deal. I guess time will tell and this listing will play a definitive role in terms of the proptech sector, so there’s definitely exciting times ahead!

So the mid-year 2019 Global Proptech Index, which is presented Metaprop New York City, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) came out this week.

We’ll highlight important metrics that will put the sector into perspective from the findings done: What’s evident is that the first half of this year has been filled with major Mergers & Acquisitions as well as financing announcements.

The investor confidence index is an all-time high of 8.8 out 10, up from 7.7 at the end of last year. Increasing deal flow is from the interest shown by the likes of some of the biggest banks, technology firms, commercial property owners and brokerages in the sector. Smart buildings seem to be high on the priority list for investors in terms of areas of interest, which will play a major part for smart cities.

The startup confidence index is also at an all-time high (7.3 out of 10), better than the 7 at the end of last year. The next three years show a vibrant outlook ahead according to this index anticipates startups being acquired or becoming public companies. We’ll keep you posted on the companies that will hopefully keep Airbnb company on the stock exchange.

Markets targeted by these startups (in terms of asset type) for commercialization:

Commercial @ 68%, closely followed by residential at 64%. Mixed-use sits at 46%, leisure is at 33% and 27% belongs to other, which accommodates industrial, storage, parking etc.

Sentiment analysis is the basis of this survey about future market expectations. This was shared by active investors and startups in real estate technology.

WeWork moved from the IPO hype which it withdrew from, replacing its founder Neumann as its CEO, taking a $5 billion bailout from SoftBank to last week telling its investors that it lost US $ 1.25 B in the 3rd quarter, on a revenue of $ 934 M.  This loss is up 150% from a year ago which was a loss of US $497 M. Talk about a company that doesn’t lack drama!

The company accounts for 69% of co-working space in the US. Occupancy decreased by 79% as the company added a record 115 000 desks. The solution under the Softbank leadership seems to be focused on larger enterprise customers. It seems the company will overlook rapid growth for sustainable business practices. It will also be interesting to see who will lead the company forward from the range of candidates that they currently chatting to.

Talking about smart cities. Google has announced the launch of its Google Station in Cape Town, South, Africa. This is an initiative that will see residents in several areas including Elsies River, Delft and Khayelitsha get access to the internet. “Google Station will service people with free internet where it’s really needed. People in Langa, Gugulethu, Blikkiesdorp and Philippi are now able to access free internet so that they can live more empowered lives with the world’s information at their fingertips.” This is a quote from the official press release.

South Africa has approximately 31 million active internet users, according to research by Statista. It’s estimated that 20 to 22 million people in South Africa use a smartphone, which accounts for about one-third of the country’s population.

The service, in partnership with Think WiFi, will also be available in more than 100 other locations like shopping malls and universities. Google’s chief business officer David Shapiro said the project would empower communities.

There’s a free software launched by researches from Cornwell University, which will allow developers and architects to improve walkability features in their designs. Urbano (however you want to pronounce it) implements data, metrics and a user-friendly interface, allows for early feedback in the process.

This is aimed at solving around 3.3 million deaths and $ 121 B in economic losses experienced yearly. In the past there has been a trial and error method implemented by these professionals, which tend to be inaccurate when compared with real-time data. Sustainable & livable urban environments of the future can be created through facts and data for decisions to be made.

The three important metrics of the software is Streetscore (calculate how streets are used for certain routes), Walkscore (look at whether popular amenities are within walking distance from your home or office) as well Amenityscore (estimate the usefulness of various services).

The relationship between technology and property was inevitable to happen when you consider that it is the largest commodity in the world, which has a valuation of over US $ 200 trillion. And to think that it’s only at the beginning of its relationship is almost puzzling when many industries have stayed current with tech trends.

The entire industry has been slow to implement applications to transform into being efficient. One application that has become popular among businesses and consumers is virtual reality. These are 360-degree videos that offer clients 3D virtual property tours from their device. It’s still in its early stages so it’s gonna be one area that we’ll keep an eye on in the next couple of years in terms of the innovation & its impact on the industry. The technology is definitely out there.

Technology like machine learning and artificial intelligence make personalization on websites, emails and even videos possible. Brands need to move from selling to serving, to create unique and interactive experiences. Looking at websites, they need to be engaging and not be online brochures. Imagine being a user wanting to buy furniture. It’s great to see applications that allow for interaction that can show you what it looks like in your home while being online.

We are definitely in exciting times when we start seeing chatbots in property that allow for users on platforms to use their natural voice and get accurate and instant answers.

Data analytics in property will allow companies to know when property owners are about to sell. But companies have to be aware of the fears from consumers about how their personal data being protected. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are the biggest reason that Blockchain is getting a lot of attention lately. The security, transparency and innovation seem to be what matters to buyers, sellers and renters when it comes to this technology.

A property purchase is usually a long, inefficient and frustrating process. What the cloud has done is streamline these commercial and residential transactions, which includes electronic signatures. This would be something that would take weeks or even months and now it takes just a couple of days. An example would be a company that has clients like lawyers & financial institutions to allow them to complete the financial settlements digitally.

Controlling temperatures or playing a different song in each room is now possible thanks to the internet of things. We’re starting to see homes being turned into smart devices. And there is no doubt that IoT has improved consumers’ lives through devices such as lighting systems & electrical outlets via the ‘net.

It has done wonders for energy efficiency through enabled sensors and monitoring in property. This is where we’ve seen smart lighting that adjusts on certain conditions (like light automatically turning off when you leave a room).

.Joburg has over 4,5 million residents. The city is also an economic hub  in Africa, and is the fourth largest city in Africa overall in terms of total urban area population. It is one of the 50 biggest urban areas on the planet and is the capital of Gauteng, which translates to 'Place of Gold' and is the richest province in all of South Africa.

The economy consists mainly of the manufacturing, retail and services sectors. Many global companies have their South African or Regional head offices in Johannesburg due to quality ICT infrastructure and a well connected road, rail and air network.

Dar es Salaam has over six million inhabitants and is the largest city in East Africa. It is an important economic and trade center for the region. New settlements are growing mainly along the business districts. From 2000 to 2018, the population grew by 166%.

Tanzania is famous for Kilimanjaro (the largest mountain in Africa - obvious) and the national park Serengeti.

More than 80% of the country’s wealth is concentrated in the city by means of wholesale and retail trade, business activities, financial services and manufacturing activities. The Dar es Salaam property market is booming. The boom is partly driven by growth in agriculture and manufacturing, especially the discovery of oil and gas.

No African city is growing faster than Angola's capital, Luanda. According to United Nations data, more than 7.7 million people live there. The average age of Luandans is 20.6 years. The capital is one of the most expensive cities in the world.  This is a seaport city, which is the 5th largest city in Africa, covers a total metropolitan area of over 900 square miles (2,400 square km) .

Luanda was an important African hub location for Portugal throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It gained its independence from Portugal in 1975.