“The industry reacted positively to this specially devised format, and our social distancing measures and hygiene protocols enabled brands, businesses and public sector bodies to come together, forge long-term investment strategies, and share information and opinion which will shape the future of the industry and help the market get back to business.”A wealth of high-profile speakers including H.E. Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, H.E. Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, Executive Chairman of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, and Ahmed Al Khatib, Chief Development and Delivery Officer at Expo 2020 Dubai, examined a broad range of issues driving the local real estate industry over two days.Leading brands also weighed in with informative sessions at the Cityscape Intelligence Arena and Cityscape Intelligence Talks series, covering topics of interest across industry sectors including residential, industrial, hospitality, retail and commercial.

Sessions included the benefits of REITs, Artificial Intelligence, the strong performance of Industrial and Logistics, the impact of E-Commerce on the retail sector, and
the road to recovery for the residential sector.Other sessions included the importance of the smart city concept in the post-pandemic world, the ecological and healthy choices driving design, planning and the tourist industry, design thinking for the post-pandemic workplace and long-term strategy in design specific to education.Large turnouts listened to thought-provoking sessions on commercial real estate, the effect of Covid-19 on our cities, AI and energy saving in commercial buildings, automation and proptech, the rise of staycations and their impact on the hospitality sector, repurposing in design, and a deep dive into the correlation between population and residential real estate in Saudi and the UAE.

In addition to the talks, the event generated business through a Hosted Buyers stand that acted as a central meeting place for investors.As well as driving business and discussion around the future of the industry, the event further strengthened the relationship between the public and the private sector in the region. Majida Ali Rashid, CEO of the Real Estate Promotion and Investment Management at Dubai Land Department, Government partners at the event, said: “The significance of Dubai Land Department’s partnership with Cityscape is not to be understated.

The event has and will continue to be a central place for local, regional and international real estate organisations and professionals to gather and positively impact the industry. For us, it remains a strong platform to launch projects such as the Real Estate Development Guide and similar initiatives.“We now turn our sights to next year’s event which will take place at the Expo 2020 site. In what will become Dubai’s largest centralised hub for business, how we bridge and strengthen the public
and private real estate sector will play a fundamental role for DLD, Cityscape, Dubai and the entire region.”Majid Al Marri, CEO – Real Estate Registration and Services Sector at DLD, used the summit to highlight the digital transformation and innovation driving DLD forward and simplifying property transactions for local and international buyers and sellers, including a new initiative on building classification set to transform price calculations.“DLD has invested heavily in Artificial Intelligence to power new services such as smart evaluation and smart audits, and we will continue to evolve and build on that momentum to increase initiatives that deliver greater efficiency and accuracy in all our services,” said Al Marri.Businesses across the real estate value chain were quick to laud the special event format, including Whitebricks, a technologically innovative property development, investment and management firm.

Akemini Okon, Whitebricks’ Business Development Manager, said: “Our aims were to meet and begin discussions with some of Dubai’s government entities, in particular Dubai Land Department, and to meet investors for our service. We achieved these at the summit. Face-to-face meetings are still crucial to our business, and the high level of hygiene and safety at Cityscape’s Real Estate Summit has been empowering.”The event will be back in its traditional exhibition format as Cityscape Global in November next year at the Expo 2020 Dubai Exhibition Centre.Cityscape’s Real Estate Summit was made possible with support from Government Partners: Government of Dubai and Dubai Land Department; Knowledge Sponsors: JLL, Knight Frank and Land Sterling; Summit Sponsors: Sobha Realty, Azizi Developments, Farrbury Capital Partners, Elitzam Group and Damac Properties; Architecture Partner: Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA); Start-up Partner: Clear It; PropTech Partner: WhiteBricks; and Portal Partner: houza.