Looking ahead to MIPIM and this year’s theme ‘The New Deal’, more and more investors are looking for potential hot spots to invest and the differing opportunities these locations may bring. As Director of Planning and Development at the Highland Council and a representative for the Scottish Cities Alliance, I look to how real estate might contribute to the development of inclusive cities and how real estate will contribute to the development of Scotland’s seven cities; Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling.
Last year, the Scottish Cities Alliance launched its Smart Cities Scotland identity with the announcement that it had been allocated up to £10million in European Regional Development Funding (ERDF), which is to be matched with £14million from the cities. As a result of this, the Smart Cities programme was developed, which will help these cities become world-leading digital hubs and to boost their economic growth.
A number of initiatives have been set up including Smart Infrastructure through intelligent street lighting, Smart Waste Systems which inform councils when bins are nearing their capacity, innovation labs linking research and education as well as open data operations – allowing cities to make evidence based decisions in order to improve services and delivery. All of which of course, would not be possible without real estate.
MIPIM will provide the Alliance with the chance to engage in conversation and to inform those attending of the great opportunities Scotland has to offer. I am very interested to see what opportunities MIPIM will bring.
If you would like to hear more about the ways in which Scottish Cities are transforming to become world-leading digital hubs then come along to the talk that I will be contributing to on ‘How can RE contribute to the building of inclusive cities and create new sources of growth’
Alternatively, visit the Scottish Cities Alliance at stand P-1E.20.
