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Health and Social Equity in Real Estate
The companion reports Health and Social Equity in Real Estate: State of the Market and Health and Social Equity in Real Estate: Examples from the Field share data and insights about trends, drivers, and leading approaches on health and social equity in the real estate industry.
Health and Social Equity in Real Estate: State of the Market presents a snapshot of real estate professionals’ awareness and adoption of practices supporting health and social equity, and identifies opportunities for further inclusion of such practices by real estate organizations and ULI. The report summarizes research undertaken in 2019 by the Urban Land Institute’s Building Healthy Places Initiative, with support from HR&A and The Integral Group. Based on an industry-wide survey with nearly 700 respondents, 23 industry leaders, workshops, and secondary research, the research represents the first comprehensive and cross-cutting data about the real estate industry’s adoption of health and social equity promoting practices, and the motivators of and barriers to taking action.
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Health and Social Equity in Real Estate: Examples from the Field takes an in-depth look at commercial real estate firms successfully integrating health and social equity into assets across the country. Based on interviews with 44 real estate stakeholders, this report distill insights on health and social equity in real estate, analysis on the business case for these practices, and metrics to measure outputs and success, and plans for where the market might be headed next. By demonstrating what companies have already achieved at their properties, and their motivations for doing so, Examples from the Field aims to accelerate the uptake of health and social equity initiatives in commercial real estate portfolios market-wide.
“Health has become a key area of focus for real estate practitioners, including developers and building owners, operators and investors. Increasingly, real estate developers are looking beyond the building to promote healthy and more equitable communities and address racial injustice. These reports build on ULI’s work to help to create healthy and socially equitable communities where all people can grow, thrive and prosper.”
W. Edward Walter
ULI Chief Executive Officer
There is a growing interest in and awareness of health and social equity within the real estate industry, and commercial real estate companies are beginning to grasp the value of health and social equity investments in their portfolios. The movement toward health is being propelled by a variety of factors, including evidence demonstrating a return on investment, increased demand from tenants and customers, public policies and incentives, and the rise of healthy building certification systems.
The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has further pushed health to the forefront for real estate
companies. The pandemic, and the protests for racial justice which spread across the United States in summer 2020, have highlighted the vital role that the real estate industry can play in improving public health by mitigating the spread of disease, enhancing racial and social equity, and implementing practices that ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Now, the expectations of building users and communities are also changing. In coming years, a focus on health and social equity will no longer be just “nice to have” for real estate leaders—focusing on health and social equity will be essential.
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