BOSS Magazine #53 - Greetings from...

MAGAZINE #53 JULY 2015

working in brazil, china dubai & Ghana | Foreign investments with Syntrus Achmea | International success July 2015 | with Stena Realty | project transform | corporation led urban development | Peter Boelhouwer | columns

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Colofon BOSS Magazine is a publication of BOSS. Published three times a year.

BOSS Magazine Nr. 53 July 2015 BOSS is the student association of the department of Management in the Built Environment Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Delft University of Technology For all information check: goo.gl/sOvY22 Or contact: Dr. Fred Hobma, master track coordinator, F.A.M.Hobma@tudelft.nl BOSS Magazine committee Editor Bart Gout Editor Joost Nieuwenburg Editor John Angoh Design and layout Tine Nientker Special thanks to Jordi Kerkum Alijd van Doorn Contributers Bart Wolbert Ir. Bernadette Potters dr. ir. Erwin Heurkens Fabian Marchand Flip Schellekens Fredrik Widoff Karlson Geert de Nekker Immanuel Sirron Kakpor Jasper Muller Karan Gupta Karolína Dvořáková Klas Johansson prof. dr. Peter Boelhouwer Rodrigo Lima Ronald van Warmerdam Ronald Visscher Sarah Heemskerk Wenhan Hu

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Press O.C.C. De Hoog

From the editors Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome… to China. You might have been tricked into thinking the cover of our newest magazine was built in photoshop, but you are mistaken, this actually happened. You’re free to draw your own conclusions, but I think it’s fair to say that you wouldn’t find similar projects in the Netherlands.

This issue, BOSS magazine goes international. Through articles, interviews and columns you will get an insight in the practice of real estate as it is executed abroad. From the do’s and don’ts of international business with Stena Realty to the daily practice of safeguarding your designs from theft in Ghana.

So is there any use in looking abroad? Our contributors underwrite the fact that real estate is all about location, and as such, local knowledge is imperative to make sound business decisions. They also show that the further abroad one goes with his business, the more middlemen you will need.

One way to do this is through investments in funds, who will locally invest in developments or commercial real estate. Investing in funds reduces the need for local ‘on the floor’ knowledge. But to be in total control, be it in Ghana, Poland or Texas, having a local network will always be necessary to keep up with the competition.

However, this is no reason to limit yourself to the surroundings of Delft. As the articles will show, many of us have already faced an international challenge.

Working in London, Shanghai and Dubai or even in the form of a startup for affordable housing in Brazil.

At the same time, the international context is not limited to physically going abroad.

A master thesis will give you an interesting insight into the rise of corporationled urban development, where multinational corporations start to engage in development projects. So that is really what this issue is all about; showing you the possibilities of the international context in the field of real estate. We hope to inspire you to look beyond the borders of the Netherlands and possibly ignite an idea in your brain, be it for your studies, your career or just for your travels. Enjoy the trip.

Bart Gout Editor BOSS Magazine committee ‘14-’15.

Bart Gout, Joost Nieuwenburg, Tine Nientker, John Angoh.

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Content 6 24 26 32

39 62 63 64

Event diary Corporate gifts Corporation-led Urban Development Financial institutions have owner-occupancy in a stranglehold: an explanation for the recession in the Dutch housing market Design and problem solving: not a ‘tool’ but a part Top 10 most expensive cities to buy real estate London Calling Real Estate Career Day 2015

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7 things to take into account for international succes Syntrus Achmea: Foreign investments

13 Working in Brazil, China and Dubai

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Interview with Immanuel Sirron Kakpor - Dutch Ghanaian architect

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Smart cities, smart energy and smart people 4

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The Business of Dreams

New entrance Van Gogh museum finished after summer / 17-02-2015 Property sales climbs up again / 18-02-2015 Building production in Eurozone is toned down / 20-02-2015 House prices increase further / 26-02-2015 Rental housing associations are increasing less / 27-02-2015 Municipality keeps losing money on ground / 27-02-2015 Turnover in construction is increasing / 27-02-2015 Mortgage market is getting into movement / 04-03-2015 Demand for mortgages still rising / 05-03-2015 Number of vacant offices is still increasing / 09-03-2015 The Netherlands is appealing to foreign companies / 17-03-2015 Home sales rise sharply in February / 20-03-2015 House prices keep rising / 17-04-2015 More houses sold in March / 21-04-2015 Expansion Schiphol is taking longer / 23-04-2015 Consumer will pay less for electricity / 23-042015 Abatement maximum mortgage affects starters / home owners have payment issues / 24-04-2015 More 04-05-2015 Transformation offices offers millions of jobs / 06-05-2015 Drones prove insulation defects / 07-05-2015 BAM obtains job for 110 meter high office building in Frankfurt / 08-05-2015 Housing prices have risen in the private sector / 08-05-2015 Last wooden train station in the Netherlands has been saved / 12-05-2015 Inspection checks scaffolding and ladders / 15-05-2015 Recovery housing market develops further / 21-05-2015 Private properties more expansive again / 22-05-2015 Rotterdam Central Station wins architects price / 26-05-2015 Bridge with floorheating / 01-06-2015 Floating stadium on Hofplein in the Hague / 02-06-2015 Vacant offices more and more often being transformed 09-02-2015

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Event diary Source: Powerhouse Company

April 2nd 2015 - Vesteda and Provast sign turnkey agreement on 192 apartments in the 100m high Amsteltower. The construction will start at the end of this year.

Source: MVRDV

April 16th 2015 - The museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam got the approval to build a second building. In this building, the art collection of the municipality will be showed to the public.

Source: Rotterdamse Schouwburg

Source: LEVS architecten

April 23rd 2015 - The area around the Rotterdamse Schouwburg will be more sustainable in the future. The Rotterdamse Schouwburg wants to be a 100% climate neutral in 2030.

April 24th 2015 - The construction of the most sustainable museum depot in Leeuwarden has just started. In this depot, the art of five different musea will be stocked.

Source: KSP J端rgen Engel Architekten

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May 7th 2015 - BAM Deutschland AG has obtained the job for building the 110 meter high office tower WINX in Frankfurt am Main.

The building is expected to be delivered in the fall of 2017.

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May 8th 2015 - The new 20.000m2 office of Fluor in Hoofddorp has received the BREEAM Excellent delivery certificate of the Dutch Green Building Council.

Source: Jannes Linders

Source: Cor Harteloh

May 21st 2015- Rotterdam Central Station has won the BNA Best Building of the Year 2015.

According to the jury, the Central Station is a fantastic building in every way.

June 1st 2015 - Amsterdam Central Station has opened their new entrance at the side of the IJ.

7-9 June 2015 June 7th-9th 2015- It was the time again for the annual Real Estate meeting point: PROVADA. This years theme was: (RE) Building the Business.

June 12nd 2015 - Mets채 Wood en Michael Green design an Empire State Building of wood

Source: Rijksvastgoedbedrijf

June 19th 2015 - The first edition of the Tilburgs Architecture Film Festival took place. The theme of the festival was transition. In twelve hours time films and documentaires were shown, intended for the public as well for the experts.

June 22nd 2015 - Former Palace of Justice Amsterdam will become a tophotel.

Rijksvastgoedbedrijf sold the building to M7 Development B.V. uit Den Bosch. They will transform it into a hotel.

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7 things to take into account for international succes Joost Nieuwenburg Doing business is an international concept. But what happens when your area of expertise expands across borders. What if you have to deal with people who do not talk the way you talk, work the way you work or do not share the same level of knowledge?

And this on a daily basis. In a world that is becoming smaller and smaller because of current technology, the differences between ways of working become more obvious. All kinds of challenges have to be faced in the global business world. To overcome these challenges, you better get a kick-start!

And here we meet Ronald Visscher. Since March 2011 Ronald has been managing director of Stena Realty, but he has international business experience that goes further back. After he completed the renowned Master of Real Estate (MRE) program at the VU in Amsterdam he was strategic consultant with SEB investment, senior director with Tishman Speyer and previously employed at Cushman & Wakefield.

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At the moment, Ronald is leading the property branch of Stena Group, which consists of seven business units in total. The well-known ferry lines are a sister organization. Stena Realty is responsible for all international real estate investments in Europe and the United States with both direct and indirect interests. The mother organization of Stena is Swedish, and all international real estate is managed through Stena Realty, headquartered in Amstelveen. Stena Realty, and

“Besides commodities like a pen, every business is local business.”

therefore Ronald Visscher, has approximately 57 real estate objects to manage inseven countries. A talk with the managing director of this global operation is a glance in a pool of experience not only applicable to the international real estate market, but on the international business market as well.

7 things Before even mentioning international business aspects there is one thing Ronald wishes to communicate: real estate, national or international, is a playing field that you have to understand, and have a certain feeling for.

In real estate it is important to ‘get buildings’ from the perspective you are working from; understand them, grasp the essence, the feeling and the perception of them. In rental, owner occupied, developer or investor it all goes the same: if you do not understand what the client wants, you will never give them what they want. In the first years of his career, Ronald worked on the advisory side of the market. This taught him a lot about varying clients, unique buildings and different wishes a client could have.

Understanding a client is becoming increasingly international. Most clients are not only oriented locally, broadening your horizon is therefore essential in understanding your clients. Around 80% of today’s real estate market is defined by international investors. This means that the price level is also internationally driven: you should consider investing your euro’s in Amsterdam or perhaps in London or Berlin! However, be aware of the different influences on the market, to create a better feeling for all the aspects that come into play.

1. Local knowledge First to mention, last one to forget. When doing international business, local knowledge is essential. Besides perhaps commodities like a pen, all business is local business. The main intent might be the same elsewhere, but it are the nuances that make the difference between one location and the next. Everyone is able to gain a certain level of knowledge about economics, political situations or master theoretical aspects of a culture,

Ronald Visscher The 47 year old Ronald Visscher is since aprill 2011 Managing Director of Stena Reality. Prior to this he worked as strategic consultant at SEB Investment and was senior director bij Tishman Speyer. Ronald also worked at Cushman and Wakefield between 2001 and 2006. After graduating at the Haarlem Business school, he did a master of Real estate and the University of Amsterdam.

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but there are always things you cannot learn from textbooks. That is why you need a local advisor, a trustee or an own office with your own people. If you go international, you need someone you can fully trust 100%. For example; a British company wants to invest in Poland. They might send a Brit, because this person will be familiar with the corporate culture, the business and the product.

“If we need to change our character too But as long as this person does not much, the location or market is probably know the local culture, has a local network of trustworthy people and not suitable for us.” knows how to do business the local way, this will most likely fail. That is why you most likely need a Polish person. You need to be aware of the nuances the location brings.

2. Corporate culture versus local culture Culture is not physical, it is not written down or literal retrievable. You have to anticipate to culture in just the right way. And the line between corporate culture and local culture is filmy and difficult to manage.

Lets say your corporate culture ‘dictates’ that it is perfectly normal for an employee to bring his or her own dishes to the sink after the lunch. Whilst on some places this might be frowned upon, this might be considered a task of the front desk clerk or the house keeping. Your business culture does not have to adapt to the customs of that place, because in this case the example is something internal. But the boundaries are fragile and can cause friction in the line of business.

In the case of Stena Realty and Ronald Visscher, if the business culture does not match the local culture at all, a stand will be taken. Ronald explains: “business culture can be flexible, of course, but if the necessary things that need to be flexible in the business culture become too prominent and change the character too much, the location or market is probably not suited for us. It will bring too much risk and will not fit the strategy or values or our company”. That is how important a corporate culture can be.

3. The people Your colleagues are important. And of course these are also the persons working in the office right next to yours, but when working abroad this becomes even more evident. You have to be able to trust the people you work with. They have to be professional and suit the company.

At Stena Realty they believe in the long-term relation. The relation with their colleagues, their suppliers, their clients and anyone else who they come across in the working field. This is based on the idea of the founding father of Stena. They consider real estate a stable investment. Continuity is important and if you want to maintain this, you must have good and 10

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solid relations with your network. That is also why Stena Realty likes to do a lot by themselves. Not only is this cost beneficial, it also gives you the opportunity to maintain contact with all your partners because there are fewer links in the chain.

Ronald already pointed out that every market and location has its nuances, this also goes for the way they treat the corporate culture in respect to the people that work with Stena Realty. In general it can be said, that if a person fits the main corporate culture of Stena within certain boundaries, he or she will be able to forge a cohesive group of people. And this group will be able to carry out the values and standards that are important for the company.

4. Basic economic conditions and target group It is no coincidence that Stena Realty is doing business in SofiaAntipolis in the South of France. It is probably a bit exaggerated, but this region can be seen as the silicon valley of France. It is a research and development area, with lots of offices and their own technical University. These conditions provide economic continuity for the area.

And this is important for Stena.

The lesson here is that not all your “Incorporating knowledge into your investments have to be on the own corporation can only be beneficial South axis in Amsterdam or in Sofiaif it will provide a business economical Antipolis in France, but you have to advantage.� realize that an office tower from the South axis does not work in a village.

The target group you are aiming for is connected to a certain location and certain conditions that go with this location. A match on this point is vital.

5. Economies of scale When you are doing international business you like to have local knowledge. Ronald explained this to us before. But it is important to see this in the light economies of scale and the corporate ideas about doing business.

Within Stena Realty as much as possible is done by their own people; accounting, property management, asset management, financing.

Basically all aspects of operating real estate.

This fits their corporate thought about building a long-term relationship with everyone involved in the process. But incorporating knowledge on all these different topics into your own corporation can only be beneficial if it will provide an economic advantage. And for it to do so, you have to analyse the scale on which you are working. Sometimes the overhead costs are just too big compared to the local product you offer.

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6. Regulations Deriving from the need for local expertise, the local regulations are something you cannot bypass. This might be casually mentioned, but there are local rules everywhere that you have to comply to. As soon as it gets specific, you either have to dive into the subject and make yourself an expert or you have to attract this knowledge from outside. And in new and unknown areas the latter is the way to start. It is not efficient and will cost too much time and money to master the regulations of each location. Regulations are something you cannot go around and will always go above your own rules like your corporate philosophy.

7. There is no such thing as a ‘standard checklist’ This might be obvious and applicable for many things, but certainly for the international real estate market. Real estate decisions are always a combination of a checklist and a gut feeling. There will be a checklist that you can work with. But this does not capture every specific part of an international location, because the differences are simply too big. With each new location you have to take a certain risk, which will sometimes be bigger than other times. Location x might be politically stable or location Y could be economically more attractive, but you have to look at the opportunity on the specified moment and potential situation in the future. This is the “The Dutch can be adaptive to other key. And to reduce the risk in such a cultures; they know what is needed to do decision you should develop a sense of understanding real estate, like business.” Ronald mentioned in the beginning.

All lessons aside Lots can be said about international business, in real estate or other markets. Adapting to local culture, local regulations and finding the right people are important lessons. But before we might over think things, Ronald names an aspect the Dutchies might take home as an advantage.

Like it was said, every business is a local business. But the Dutch have, speaking of culture and historical background, something important in their genes. The Dutch have always been a trading nation, and this power of commerce seems somehow to be in our blood. The Dutch can be fairly adaptive to other cultures; they know what is needed to do business. We can take on such an attitude where we do business, go home and think: “the people we dealt with have a different business culture, but we have been able to do business”.

It does not have to be our way, as long as we can do business. Take this background as an inspiration and the lessons from Ronald as knowledge.

The international real estate market is an interesting challenge, but you just got handed over a nice set of tools to cope with this challenge!

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Working in Brazil, China and Dubai Bart Gout & Joost Nieuwenburg There’s only one way to get to know the real estate related practices abroad, and that is to actually go there. To find out what the challenges of working abroad or working with international partners are, we’ve interviewed Jasper Muller, Rodrigo Lima, Bart Wolbert and Flip Schellekens. What do you expect before leaving and what is the reality like, and maybe most interesting for us, what of what you’ve learned during studies has been applicable?

Let their stories inspire you, and ask yourself where you would rather work, Brazil, China or Dubai or maybe just the good old Netherlands.

Brazil The concept of sustainable and quick construction in places with a shortage is at the core of the startup 24home, founded by Rodrigo Lima and Jasper Muller. Rodrigo, Jasper and Camille Wiekenkamp started a design bureau called Studio Flex. Recently they have been busy with 24home, an innovative concept for a new building system, which they aspire to develop in Brazil. In a short interview they explain why Brazil and what the process has been up till now.

Why the focus on Brazil?

“There is an enormous housing shortage in Brazil which makes it an ideal market for an innovative quick construction concept like 24home”, Rodrigo explains. Additionally it is possible to expand or move, so a change of function lies within the possibilities. As such, we can prevent demolition and unnecessary capital destruction. Apart from the fact Brazil is an amazing country, Rodrigo is fluent in Portuguese and has both the Dutch and Brazilian nationality.

What did you expect beforehand?

“Brazil is a land of opportunity and growth possibilities”, Jasper says.

“We will give several lectures at a construction fair in Sao Paulo and also have a stand. However, Brazil is also a country with a lot of bureaucracy which sometimes makes it hard to do business.”

What was the decisive factor for your focus on Brazil?

The most important factor that made us choose for Brazil is the interest in our concept from the Brazilian side. The shortage is of such a rate that construction companies can not cope with the demand.

Rodrigo Lima Rodrigo is a graduate of the Delft University of Technology in Real Estate and Housing management (from October 2015: Management in the Built Environment). He is the founder and C.E.O of Studio Flex and a director at 24- Home. 24-Home is an innovative Dutch company which designs and produces affordable prefab houses of Dutch quality.

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Jasper Muller Director and co owner of 24- home, Jasper Muller is an honors student of the Bachelor programme of Delft University of Technology. Jasper, as a creative innovator is also Founding partner at Studio Flex.

Studio Flex uses different ways of approaching the customer to obtain a maximum level of satisfaction. Nowadays, that is exactly the thing which is most important.

Jasper Muller (left) and Rodrigo Lima (right)

“It is for these reasons a developer offered us a project of seven hundred apartments, after just one skype meeting.” From a Dutch point of view this is an enormous project especially for a startup, for Brazil it’s nothing special.

What are pros and cons of the local situation in Brazil with regard of real estate and architecture compared to the Netherlands?

“The Netherlands is definitely ahead when you look at technology and sustainability in construction. This is knowledge we can use in practice in Brazil”, Rodrigo explains. The construction industry in Brazil works in a rather traditional way, sometimes in less preferable weather and safety conditions. “If we can relocate most of the construction process to a factory we can guarantee more ideal working conditions, giving innovation and sustainability more chance” Jasper told us.

Where are you now?

As of this moment we are in the process of analysing the market, we try to determine whether to focus on Sao Paulo and/or Belo Horizonte and also looking into potential partners. The fair in November will conclude this phase of the project. Since we will be in Brazil by then, we can start with partnering up with local companies. As of this moment we are already cooperating with Brazilians resident in the Netherlands and we have skype meetings with companies in Brazil.

We haven’t run into a typical business souvenir, but we have noticed that the way of doing business in Brazil is much more personal than here.

Very soon in a conversation Brazilians tend to ask personal questions, whereas the Dutch are much more formal and keep distance.

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China China, is a land of opportunity for the building and construction sector.

Apart from the fact that there simply is a lot of construction, western architects are hugely popular, mainly thanks to their creativity and approach to design. This created an environment where small western firms can do a lot of large projects, incomparable to Dutch standards.

Bart did an internship at the architectural firm ARX Architects at their Shanghai office. Together with his friend and colleague Roel Vogels and a team of twelve Chinese co-workers, we’ve worked on several projects spread over China. What particularly appealed to me with regard to this firm was their architectural ambition and the guts they showed by moving to China. Despite the fact ARX is a relative newcomer, ARX works on prestigious projects such as a museum in Shenzen and a couple of projects in the Shanghai Tower.

What was the decisive factor to move to China?

In short, to gain international work experience. After four years in Delft I felt that I should go and change my

Bart Wolbert Bart has completed his bachelor studies in the field of architecture and is currently traveling the world.

He started his world trip with an internship at ARX Architects at their Shanghai office.

In 2013 he founded an independent design studio called ‘Olduvai Gorge’ together with Roel Vogels, with which they have won several design competitions including the Rotterdam Startup Campus.

“On arrival I was stunned by the work pace and the amount of deadlines at the office.”

perspective. This turned out to be the perfect intermezzo between bachelor and master studies.

Expectation vs. reality – did you experience anything like a culture shock?

On arrival I was stunned by the work pace and the amount of deadlines at the office. I started working on a couple of projects that would all be built within a couple of months. This caused a full planning, long days and short weekends. Whenever I got a new assignment, I was expected to finish it the same day. This sounds like a lot of stress, but it is more than covered by the satisfaction of designing something and see it built the next week.

Bart Wolbert (left) and Roel Vogels (right)

What are pros and cons of the local situation in China with regard of real estate and architecture compared to the Netherlands?

The scale and prestige of the projects in China are not reserved to the rich and famous firms, like they are in the Netherlands. A young company can for instance get a project like a museum or a high-rise apartment building. Combine this with unimaginable construction speed, and you have a diverse portfolio in no time at all. Of course the July 2015 |

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first thing to suffer from this is building quality. A lot of architects see China as a playground, which has resulted in weirdly shaped, unusable buildings.

What is the greatest difference on the workfloor with regards to work ethics, hierarchy and relations?

Even though the firm wasn’t especially large, the boss was held in high esteem. He had is own chauffeur, the only real office and a slightly larger chair than the rest of us. However, after work hours he turned out to be a very nice and helpful man, not afraid of a joke or two.

Shortly after arrival I felt very welcome among my colleagues. There was not a lot of hierarchy and everyone was very helpful, also with the practical matters of building a living in Shanghai. But it showed best during the karaoke nights, where Roel and I showed of our Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber skills.

Flip Schellekens Flip is a technical consultant at Deerns in the United Arab Emirates. He is a graduate in Real Estate and Housing (from October 2015: Management in the Built Environment) at Delft University of Technology.

Some of his recent projects are the construction of the Abu Dhabi international airport. Flip Schellekens was also an active and contributing member of BOSS during his college years.

Tell us something about the most unusual situation during work.

The daily work at the office was regularly interspersed with meetings, lunches and diners. Since everything was in Chinese, my role was limited to smiling and staring. However, one part of the meeting I did understand; Baijiu, a Chinese alcoholic drink. The tradition requires the host to drink a shot with his guests. During the meal all guests will alternately stand up to also drink with all attendees. And one by one, this continues. You can imagine that after a ‘successful’ meeting, your productive day has ended and you can enjoy your first hangover in the late afternoon.

Dubai Flip Schellekens, a former chairman of BOSS, spread his wings after graduating in Delft to become a technical consultant working in Abu Dhabi. For the past two years Flip has lived in Dubai, from which a small trip must be taken to his work place: the construction site of the international airport of Abu Dhabi. On the site he is part of the 100+ person design team that make sure the 15,000+ person strong work force on the construction site know exactly what to do.

Why this particular location and what was the decisive factor to leave for Dubai?

“After gaining some work experience in the Netherland, it became known to me through my person network that ‘Deerns’ was looking for people who were ready to take upon an adventure”. Deerns had an opening for an employee, where he would be working on the international airport of Abu Dhabi. Flip explains that the choice for the location was actually already made, it was the choice whether he would grasp the chance or

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Abu Dhabi airport

not. The decisive factor was that Flip was eager to go upon an adventure, he was ready for the experience! The chance to be working on one of the biggest construction sites in the world was not one to be missed.

Because the main motivation of Flip was the adventure side of the story, he did not really have an expectation of the work environment he would end up in. Without ever having visited Dubai or Abu Dhabi, he went there with a fairly blanco pattern of expectations.

What were the first things you noticed once you started on the job?

Flip explains that the very first thing that stood out was the luxury that was available. But this had all to do with the hotel room Flip stayed the first period he arrived in Dubai. Now that he has his own apartment in the city, the facilities have turned towards a normal level.

What was noticeable on the workfloor were the working hours. It is expected that you work very effective and productive. Plus is should not be a problem to work long days or perhaps even in the weekends and evenings.

What are pros and cons of the local situation in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with regard of real estate and architecture compared to the Netherlands?

Flip does not really point out pros or cons, but has a clear view of the local situation. He mentions that there are more international people than local people working in his team.

Each and everyone of them brings a different culture to the work place and all of them know that they have a different culture. This makes people work together despite cultural differences. Plus everyone there has the sole purpose of working, because they are all abroad. So everyone is in the same situation: abroad, with a different cultural background and on site to do a great job with everyone involved.

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What about the hierarchy on the work floor?

On the work floor everyone will cooperate. But one thing is very clear: the client is the one who pays and therefor the one who does decide.

On he does so without much consultation. It is a very strict top down culture. And the client is very demanding, which will have you working even harder.

Can you name an advantage of your Dutch education?

“The main thing Dutch people, or people who studied at the Delft University of Technology, is that they are very solution orientated” Flip says. In our education program we gained a certain attitude, a certain mindset, that allows us to focus on the end point. Everyone in the office is equal in the sense of knowledge.

But Dutch people tend to be very proactive towards a solution.

“One thing is very clear: the client is the one who pays and therefore the one who does decide. It is a very strict top down culture.”

Could you name an odd situation on the work floor?

“I should not really go into detail, but i can tell you this: Arabs can have a real temper. Sometimes conflict occur, that happens. But when you’re in an argument in the Netherlands you use arguments without using your tone or volume. But the Arabs could end up speaking very, very loud once entangled in an undesirable situation.”

Building the Abu Dhabi airport

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Figure 1: Park Place, New York City

The Business of Dreams Fredrik Widoff Karlson & Klas Johansson

In a globalized world with an increasingly competitive market, with various options for the consumer, a good product does not always sell itself. Conceptualization and branding is therefore an essential aspect in any business. Likewise in Real Estate, many marketing tools are used from city marketing to building level to ensure that projects are appealing to meet the demand.

Klas Johansson and Fredrik Widoff Karlsson take a look at this phenomenon and its significance from the perspective of a NewYork based broker in relation to real estate trends and developments in Stockholm, Sweden. The following text is therefore a depiction of a new look at real estate market.

We’re in the back seat of a Range Rover, driven by a private chauffeur, rushing towards a site visit on one of the most famous developments in New York City. We are accompanying one of the best brokers of Manhattan, he’s a Swede and his name is Fredrik Eklund.

The reason for this meeting and site visit in New York is our master thesis, which we are currently working on. A project that aims to July 2015 |

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research and compare conceptualization and innovation processes for property development in comparison with the same processes in other industries. We believe that there’s a lot to learn from this, but also hope that it will contribute to further development of conceptualization in the real estate industry.

Conceptualization and branding of residential properties is a relatively new phenomenon on the Swedish property market, whereas New York has been using those types of tools for a long time. This is why we chose to meet Fredrik Eklund. He’s a broker, but works very proactively with developers and architects all over New York City, designing and branding some of the most astonishing projects in the world.

Averaging $100 Million in sales every month, it’s easy to presume that Eklund only develops properties for target groups with the highest disposable incomes but as he so well put it: “Exclusivity does not have to equal luxury”.

A quote explaining that conceptualization of properties not only is used for the most luxurious projects, but also for affordable apartments. The main question is which group of people you choose to target with your concept. Properties have gone from being a pure asset that basically puts a roof over your head to a service and a symbol of status. You do not only sell real estate, you sell attitude. That’s the idea behind conceptualization of properties.

During our studies at Delft University of Technology, we learned about the golden circle of business by Simon Sinek. That people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

This notion correlates the conceptualization and branding trend that we see for residential properties today. A company famously known for being experts at this is Apple, as they create such hype around every product

Figure 2: Continental Apartments Stockholm

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they’re about to release that they always sell out upon launch. In real estate it’s a bit more difficult to achieve the same, but conceptualization seems to be a successful approach towards it even if it requires more resources, and Eklund and his team is showing the way.

New living concepts In Sweden, concept living is only really prevalent on the market for senior housing even though the model has started to make its way to the conventional residential market in Stockholm. As per definition of conceptualization, thereby making conventional apartments

unconventional.

The real estate market in Stockholm is very inspired by New York City, especially the market for concept living. The latest New York-inspired amenity visible in concept development in Stockholm today is the inclusion of service management for apartments. Meaning that even though it is private residences, there’s still room and concierge services as well as amenities such as a residential lobby, gym, pool, rooftop terrace and alike.

Projects like this are very common in America, for example 30 Park Place and The Beekman that we visited in New York. But in Sweden there hasn’t really been a market for properties like these until now. Two Figure 3 MORE living in Amsterdam comparable projects are Continental Apts. and Corner House, located in Stockholm. A Dutch example would be MORE, a development by Zuider Vastgoed and Green Real Estate.

The reason to why this type of project is successful is because there has been a shift in paradigm over the generations. People nowadays are more willing to invest in services that were previously thought of as unnecessary.

However, as mentioned earlier, conceptualization of residential real estate does not have to be targeted only towards the very richest.

Residences can of course also be conceptualized towards target groups where luxury is not the most important factor.

Exemplifying this is a project called the 25 Green by Luciano Pia in Torino, Italy where the concept is influenced by nature.

Fredrik Widoff Karlson A country boy from the woods outside Lundsbrunn whose ambition is to advance the built environment for the benefit of society, but also to help others succeed in the same line of work.

After an exchange programme at the Delft university of Technology, Frederik is currently working on his thesis about conceptualization and innovation processes for property development. He is a project manager at Wallenstam AB and founding partner of JK events.

Adding Value Concepts like this also contribute to an improved cityscape and thereby adding value not only for the residents and the developers, but also for the city and the area itself since it most certainly will attract interest from other regions.

Being able to sell or mediate these types of properties, it is imperative to know your target group. One thing that we’ve learned from Eklund and his team in New York is that the process of establishing your target group is facilitated by including the broker as early on in the planning of the project as possible. Eklund described projects where he was involved July 2015 |

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four years before construction even started. An approach that is very rare in Sweden for example, but maybe something that should be considered to a greater extent.

In concept development, the goal would be to predict what the determined target group desires before they even know it themselves. If the branding and marketing is executed well, the target group will “The goal would be to predict what the realize that the suggested concept determined target group desires before is exactly what they want and need they even know it themselves”. to get before anyone else does. The accuracy of predicting the target group’s desires increase by involving parties such as brokers at the earliest stage possible. That means more work and planning for the project manager, but as our favorite teacher in the Netherlands once told us: -”You’re never in control, but you can always manage!”.

In essence, the process for concept development employed in New York City starts with singling out an up and coming architect with “starchitect”potential that will provide innovative design for a reasonable price. After the concept is set, another part of the process is to establish a sales gallery (preferably overlooking the construction site or at least close by) where full scale replicas of an apartment in the project is erected to give the potential buyer an as realistic experience as possible.

Every single project is branded with specific names, such as 30 Park Place and The Beekman, and their own websites, a trend that is starting to show in Sweden, but has been around in New York for decades.

Figure 4: The Beekman in New York City 22

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Figure 5: Corner house in Stockholm

A highly successful project developer in Stockholm, working solely with concept living, is a company called Oscar Properties. A company employing many of the strategies mentioned above. Recently listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, Oscar Properties is showing a growth in turnover of over 50 percent annually for the last few years and a solid profit margin of 20 percent or more. If you were to ask Fredrik Eklund, they seem to be doing everything right and with the results that they’re showing it is difficult to disagree. This company makes it easy to understand why this approach to concept development has been successful in New York for a long period of time, but also shows that there is a huge potential in conceptualization of residential properties.

In both Stockholm and New York, there is an increasing demand for smaller apartments so the coming trend seem to be an average-sized affordable concept living. This is why you start to see a demand for apartments that is basically just a raw concrete area. An unadorned concept is still a concept, and some target groups would much rather prefer just that, meaning that the full concept initially takes place in the mind of the potential users.

It is safe to say that whether you choose to let the developer determine the concept or if you let the user do it, conceptualization will provide added value for both parties.

Klas Johansson Klas recently did an exchange programme at the faculty pf Architecture at the Delft University of Technology. He is currently working on his thesis at the KTH Royalty Institute of Technology in Stockholm about conceptualization and innovation processes for property development.

We’re not only in the business of real estate; we’re in the business of dreams.

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Corporate gifts in Real Estate John Angoh In the world of business, there are some common practices that have become part and parcel of many corporations. A very widely recognized example is the corporate gift. The corporate gifts and souvenirs are a very significant aspect in every culture.From Africa to Asia to the Americas and even to the Middle East, corporate gifts are used in many ways today. Some companies use them for promotion while others use them to boost the morale of their employees or to maintain the interest of their clients.

John Angoh John Angoh started his master Real Estate and Housing (from October 2015: Management in the Built Environment) in September 2014 at the Delft University of Technology.

John has his own company, Amsterdam Authentics, where he sells shirts.He is also a creative entrepreneur who sings and designs.

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Interestingly, although the idea or thought behind giving out corporate gifts may be the same in various countries, the gifts essentially vary a lot. Significantly, there is a correlation between culture and the type of gift or souvenir common in the different parts of the world. However it is arguable that in the corporate world cultural souvenirs do not always apply. This article takes a look at the differences and similarities pertaining to the above and its significance in today’s world of real estate.

According to our Swedish compatriot Frederik Widoff Karlsson, the most common souvenir in Sweden is the Dalahast horse. In the old days the Dala horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna, as well as Sweden in general. However, most people tend to go for the moose related articles. ‘That’s what the Germans come here for’ he says. ‘They even steal road sign warnings for moose. There are people collecting things from moose’s, making necklaces and other accessories to sell to Germans. People think it’s a joke but it’s happening. You see Germans walking around with animal shit in their faces and loving it. Crazy but for some reason that is how it is, he elaborates.’ None the less, although some companies capitalize on this for marketing, others like Frederiks’ company simply give away wine or champagne. This is rather sensible, since they own a vineyard in France.

Significantly, companies simply giving away wine or champagne or something much more useful instead of a cultural related souvenir is a growing trend. In Holland for instance, the klompen are the most common and famous souvenirs for the tourist, however it was interesting to see that most of the companies that attended the Real Estate Career day recently organized by BOSS at Delft University of Technology, offered gadgets and stationary with their logos on them.

KPMG even gave away, mobile chargers which I presume are China made. Mine can barely charge itself, let alone my phone.

In fact it seems it rather even sucks the last ounce of power right out of my phone. Despite this, I am always reminded of the company since the bright blue cube has the letters KPMG hugely printed on it.

Likewise, other companies gave away gadgets such usb sticks or the famous ‘CBRE peppermints’, which for some strange reason seem to reoccur on desks every now and then.

The Dalahast horse

It is conversely, interesting the sense of joy one gets, when a company gives you little free stuff after a fair or meeting. The truth is that everybody likes free things and although some of these articles are cheap, they attain a different value when used as corporate souvenirs.

They work exactly as the souvenir one would get on a vacation trip as reminder of the great memories they shared. Most companies even go to the extent of applying this principle on their employees. By given them periodical gifts to boost moral and to commemorate milestones.

In fact, corporate gift giving is a significant part of business today. As part of a well-considered program, it can help establish or enhance critical relationships and become a cost“The basic reasons for gift giving is the effective means of recognizing activities that benefit the business. same: to affirm relationships and enhance Numerous surveys point out that the personal connection between giver most business gifts are given to major and recipient.” clients. After that come employees, then prospective clients and students or prospective workers. Reasons for gift giving range from thanking longstanding customers for their business to recognizing a valued employee for working on a weekend. The basic reason is the same: to affirm relationships and enhance the personal connection between giver and recipient. Basically relationship-building pluses are pretty obvious, and the costs are relatively low but you would have to be strategic. A usable gift is always a plus, the chances of it being kept for a long time even if not in use, is pretty high. People often keep things they do not use.

Ironically, no one ever deletes their junk mail.

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Corporation-led Urban Development Ir. Bernadette Potters & Dr. Ir. Erwin Heurkens Since a couple of years a remarkable phenomenon is witnessed in the field of urban development which entails that large multinationals corporations, such as IKEA and Siemens, start to engage in urban development projects. As their motivation to do so is unclear, it is difficult to estimate whether this phenomenon offers opportunities or threats for urban development practice.

This paper provides insights in multinationals’ motives for engaging in urban development and their relationship with corporate strategies. Two different types of multinationals engaging in urban development seem to arise, characterised as ‘Developing Multinationals’ and ‘Technological Partners’. Their diverging motives learn us that multinationals are inherently different and that such corporations cannot simply be stigmatized as profit-maximizing, space-controlling companies threatening public interests in our cities.

Ir. Bernadette Potters Bernadette graduated in Real Estate and Housing (from October 2015: Management in the Built Environment) at the Delft University of Technology and is currently working as a business analyst at Deloitte Netherlands. She was also the treasurer of the BOSS board 2013-2014.

The phenomenon of large multinational corporations engaging in urban development projects is subject to differing opinions on whether it provides opportunities or threats for urban development practice.

The Dutch documentary ‘Tegenlicht’ (VPRO, 2012) states that large corporations like IKEA and Siemens are more and more focussing on future cities by starting to physically develop them. Academics like De Zeeuw, Franzen and Mensink (2013) recognise these market players as new international markets entrants and link this entrance to the shifting pane of the urban development market. Critics seem to think that these corporations will have a decisive and overruling influence in the quality of life within these urban development projects. Others see it as an opportunity to address the difficulties in the (financial) context of the Dutch urban development practice.

On the background of this phenomenon several contextual changes take place, both in urban development and in the corporate landscape.

Within the field of urban development, funding problems that occurred after the economic crisis of 2008 have caused urban development projects to be under stress. These funding problems have caused a dependency of public bodies on the private sector. Moreover, a shift in societal values towards more Anglo-Saxon values has also created an increasing emphasis on the private sector in the Netherlands (Heurkens, 2008). This is likely to cause a shift in the roles and relations of public and private actors in urban development (Heurkens, 2012).

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In addition, the context in which multinational corporations operate is subject to change as well. Several megatrends, growing competition and an increased emphasis on the societal responsibilities of corporations demand them to continuously reassess their strategic focus (De Wit and Meyer, 2010; Johnson and Scholes, 1993) .

The characteristics of both urban development and corporate strategies, which are defined by these changing contexts, show overlap which might indicate motives for multinational corporations to engage in urban development projects (Figure 1) (Potters, 2015). These motives were tested through case studies.

Figure 1: overlapping characteristics and potential motives (Potters, 2015)

Case studies The two main cases studied in this research are the Strand East project, developed by Inter IKEA subsidiary Vastint and The Crystal, developed

by Siemens, both situated in London.

Vastint has started developing the Strand East project (Figure 2) in the east of London in 2012. The area is located just south of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and comprises 26 acres (11 hectares). The mixed-use development will comprise 1.200 dwellings, 58.000 m2 of office space, 350 room hotel, a restaurant, school and day-care.

Within the development process Vastint takes on the entire urban development process, including ownership after completion. This makes the corporation a long term stakeholder in the project as a holistic developer.

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Figure 2: Strand East urban development project

The motives for Vastint to engage in urban development seem to be fairly different from the ones in Figure 1.

Vastint does not consider partnerships established through urban development projects as a motive. Also the other motives mentioned in Figure 1 are said not to be motives for their engagement. However, it is noticed that the IKEA philosophy of delivering products “for the many people” is incorporated in Vastint’s activities, as the scale of the development allows them to develop in an affordable way. Moreover, the Strand East project is designed according to principles that enhance sustainability and a sense of community. Therefore, the motive of Corporate Social Responsibility is not rejected. Other motives that drive Vastint to engage in urban development projects are long term return on capital investment and economic value creation.

Siemens initiated the development of The Crystal (figure 3) in the east London Royal Docks in 2010. It is an office and exhibition centre on urban sustainability and covers an area of 18.000 m2. Interviews show that the engagement in urban development is part of the corporation’s strategy as it entails reaping the benefits of the megatrend Urbanisation. Unlike the Inter IKEA case, the motives for Siemens to engage in urban development seem to correspond very well to the motives mentioned in Figure 1.

Figure 3: The Crystal and its park

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The most important motive is the establishment of partnerships with public bodies as they decide about the possibilities for implementing the companies solutions. It therefore seems that these partnerships are very important for providing Siemens’s future client base. The shift from products to solutions, anticipating megatrends and innovation are motives as well. Siemens has taken on the full process in the development of The Crystal. However, The Crystal proved not to be the typical activity for Siemens’ Infrastructure&Cities team.

The Crystal was a one-off project and the corporation typically does not get involved in construction.

The Infrastructure&Cities division is involved in urban projects with a technological aspect, but in an informative and advisory role concerning transport, energy and other technological solutions. Siemens does also operate their technological systems once implemented.

Both cases vary quite a lot concerning the motives to engage in urban development projects. In order to gain more insight and draw more decisive conclusions, five additional cases were studied, being Ahold, Alliander, Vulcan, Tata and Cisco. The results of all 7 case studies and the analysis are depicted in Figure 4. The lower block represents all identified motives. These motives are related to the strategic business goals that the corporations pursue by engaging in urban development and the degree of involvement in the development process.

Figure 4: Corporation’s motives, business strategies/goals and degree of involvement concerning urban development (Potters, 2015)

Conclusions The results in Figure 4 show that several corporations correspond to each other regarding their motives, strategic business goals and the degree of involvement.

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Based on these findings two types of corporations engaging in urban development projects can be identified.

Dr. ir. Erwin Heurkens Erwin Heurkens is an Assistant Professor in Urban Development Management at Delft University of Technology. His main research interest is international comparative studies on urban and real estate development practices, with special attention on Anglo Saxon planning practices.

Type 1: Developing Multinationals These corporations (to which Inter IKEA, Vulcan and Tata can be assigned) seem to be family-originated corporations with incorporated philanthropic values that perform the whole spectrum of the urban development process and adopt the role of a holistic developer. They have their activities organised in an independent subsidiary of which the core business is urban development and with their engagement in urban development they contribute to their corporate strategy by creating economic value and long term return on investment and improving a community. They are highly involved in the urban development process and therefore in shaping the actual urban development process.

Type 2: Technological Partners These corporations (to which Siemens, Alliander and Cisco can be assigned) seem to be corporations with a technological core business that perform only the activity of advising in urban development and therefore adopt the role of advisor. Considering aspects that align closely to their core business they perform much more activities that are organised in a business unit within the corporation. This engagement in urban development contributes to the corporate strategy because it enables them to anticipate megatrends. They are only to a little degree involved in the urban development process and shaping the actual urban development process.

Discussion Considering the opportunities and threats mentioned in the introduction, this research indicates that Corporation-led Urban Development (which only includes the Developing Multinationals) could be beneficial for urban development practice. Such corporations are financially strong and independent and therefore capable of making large investments that generate returns on the long term. They will benefit from a wellfunctioning, sustainable and qualitative urban development project as it safeguards their returns (and names). This business model and focus on quality ensures that Developing Multinationals are long term involved and committed to urban development which is a welcome addition to practice.

Although Technological Partners cannot be considered to perform Corporation-led Urban Development, partnering with them seems valuable as well. As one of their goals to engage in urban development

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is to anticipate megatrends, partnering with them might assist an urban area to be developed in a more future-proof, sustainable way. Another motive for these corporations to engage in urban development is innovation. By partnering with “By partnering with technological technological corporations, it is corporations, it is possible to integrate possible to integrate innovation into the urban development project and innovation into the urban development to incorporate knowledge within project.” traditional organizations such as real estate development companies.

The abovementioned aspects seem to provide opportunities for urban development practice. However, this research only provides a first exploration of the phenomenon of Corporation-Led Urban development and more research should be done in order to make decisive statements.

The outcomes and models and frameworks designed throughout this research can be used to structure and steer this further research.

The findings presented in this paper might provide fruitful ground for more well-informed and less polarized debates on the role of large multinationals like IKEA and Siemens in the future of city planning.

References

DE ZEEUW, F., FRANZEN, A. & MENSINK, J. 2013. Werkzame Ontwikkelstrategieën. Praktijkcongres Gebiedsontwikkeling 2013.

Praktijkleerstoel Gebiedsontwikkeling.

DE WIT, B. & MEYER, R. 2010. Strategy Synthesis: resolving strategy paradoxes to create competitive advantage Andover Hampshire, UK, Cengage Learning.

HEURKENS, E. 2008. The Anglo Saxon Western wind: Repositioning the management of urban area development in the Netherlands, BOSS Magazine, 34, 54-58

HEURKENS, E. 2012. Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects: Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK. Architecture and the Built Environment, Vol. 4, Delft: Delft University of Technology.

JOHNSON, G. & SCHOLES, K. 1993. Exploring Corporate Strategy, Hertfordshire, Prentice Hall International.

POTTERS. B. 2015. Corporation-led Urban Development: Motives for multinational corporations to engage in Urban Development Projects. Delft: Delft University of Technology.

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Financial institutions have owner-occupancy in a stranglehold: an explanation for the recession in the Dutch housing market. prof. dr. P.J. Boelhouwer If you try to make a comparison between different locations in the world, to see how they handle certain aspects of the real estate market, you have to distinguish between the aspects you can influence and the once you cannot. Sometimes the goal of certain measures is the same, but the way to get there differs.

Other times a circumstance is similar, but the reaction to the circumstance differs. Prof. Dr. Boelhouwer exposes an aspect known to all, even outside the real estate market; the economic recession. A condition that influenced a lot and has been named on many occasions. But this time the causes of the fierce reaction to the unchangeable circumstance are interpreted. Even though circumstances and reactions to these can be compared, never rule out the nuances between different locations, these might turn out be the real difference.

As in many other European countries, also the housing market in the Netherlands was hit by the economic recession at the end of 2008.

However, around 2010, house prices stabilized in most European countries, with the exception of Spain and Ireland, and even started to rise in several countries (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Nominal house prices in Europe, 1995-2012. Source: Various national statistics, calculations author

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In the Netherlands too, a cautious price recovery set in during 2010 lasting a few months. From 2011 on, however, house prices and sales in the Netherlands, unlike most other West European countries, again fell into a spiral of decline (Figure 2). In the period 2008-2013Q2S, nominal sales prices have dropped by 21% (in real terms by nearly 30%), the number of sales transactions have fallen from roughly 225,000 to 100,000 dwellings per year, and the number of new dwellings sold per month is only around 1,000 (down from over 4,000 before 2008). Since 2013Q sales transactions have gone up to approximately 60% and house pieces by 4-5%. In this paper we present an explanation for the bad performances of the Dutch housing market: several measures to restrict credit, which various Dutch financial institutions have introduced in the country’s mortgage market since 2011. We argue that the unique situation on the Dutch market can be explained largely by the rationing of the mortgage provision and the choices made by a number of financial institutions (Boelhouwer, 2013).

Figure 2: Nominal and real house prices in the Netherlands, 1965-2014. Sources: CBS and NVM

Financial institutions put brakes on mortgage lending As noted in the introduction, mortgage lending has undergone some rigorous adjustment in the Netherlands since 2011. One of the main changes is the introduction of the Code of Conduct for Mortgage Loans (GHF); another is the imposition of stricter criteria for maximum housing costs. Both result in borrowing limits for households. These limits are calculated by the National Institute for Family Finance Information

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(NIBUD), an organization that sets normative household budgets.

The direct effects are manifest in the rules for obtaining mortgage insurance (the NHG) and the regulations that make up the code of conduct (the GHF). The introduction of the GHF in August 2011 ushered in a range of austerity measures in mortgage lending practices. For instance, the tightened norms in the housing-cost tables constructed by the NIBUD are now applied not only by the NHG when reviewing applications but also by almost all mortgage lenders. Further, the maximum loan-to-value ratio has declined from 116% to 103% in 2015, and will be decreased to 100% in 2018. In addition, it is now far more difficult for banks to provide tailor-made solutions, which they had commonly done by means of ‘explain mortgages’ (loans that deviate from the official terms that ignore an applicant’s income perspectives).

Finally, for households without someone in permanent employment and for independent contractors, it is likewise harder to get a mortgage -- a striking turn of events, given that only a moderate amount in the entire country were offered a permanent labor contract in 2011.

The NIBUD has also revised its budget norms for housing costs downward since 2011 in response to the drop in purchasing power. In part the adjustment was due to the method of calculation whereby for every Euro less in disposable income, fifty cents is deducted from the housing budget.

The Ministry of Finance, watching from the sidelines, ensures that this onslaught is actually carried out and that proposals by the NIBUD to allow some leeway are rejected. As a consequence of the new rules, the amount that could be borrowed by dual-income households in particular has declined sharply since 2011. Dualearners with a modal income saw their maximum borrowing capacity shrink by nearly a third. Many of them are starters with little savings who, Figure 3. Maximum borrowing capacity and house prices, 1982-2012. Source: Gemeentegaranties, NHG, Normen Rabobank, various housing need surveys, despite the fact that house prices in data processed by Onderzoeksinstituut OTB. the existing stock have declined, still have less choice on the owner-occupancy market.

As shown in Figure 3, the shrunken borrowing capacity has direct consequences for the development of house prices.

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When starters give up, filtering households also run into trouble. It ishard for them to sell their house; and if they have to sell, they need to make hefty cuts in the price. This is part of the reason why, in the meantime, roughly 700,000 mostly young households have a mortgage debt that is higher than the value of the dwelling (the condition of negative equity).

Rationale for limited mortgage lending by banks In view of the above description, one wonders why financial institutions such as the Dutch Central Bank (a proponent of further reducing the LTV), the AFM (the initiator of the restrictive GHF), and the Ministry of Finance (the force behind stricter NIBUD norms) tend to intervene so rigorously in the Dutch mortgage market. There are three reasons, all related to the total mortgage debt: size, risk, and funding.

The size of the debt is perhaps the most important one. Comparatively large from an international perspective, the Dutch national mortgage debt has more than doubled since “The size of the Dutch national mortgage 1999, from 298 billion Euro to 665 debt has more than doubled since 1999, billion in 2012. This makes the Netherlands the front-runner in from 298 billion Euro to 665 billion in Europe. The total size of the Dutch 2012.” mortgage debt as a percentage of GDP is half again as large as Great Britain’s and even twice as big as Germany’s (Van der Ploeg and Alink, 2012, p. 10).

The exceptional international position occupied by the Netherlands has not escaped the notice of international financial institutions such as the IMF, the OESO, and the credit rating agencies. They see the Dutch mortgage debt as a financial risk and recommend reducing it. The Ministry of Finance in particular is afraid that the high debt level would prompt the rating agencies to lower the country’s credit rating. The consequence would be that it would cost the Netherlands somewhat more to finance its sovereign debt. An initial lowering of the credit rating by one class would lead to an estimated increase in annual financing costs of between four and five billion Euro. This amount, incidentally, pales in light of the more than 300 billion Euro that households have already watched going up in smoke with the declining value of their dwellings.

A second reason for the strong intervention by the financial institutions is that they believe the high national mortgage debt puts both individual households and the government (through revenues foregone because of the mortgage interest deductibility) at too much risk. Given the sharply increased outlays for the mortgage interest deduction and July 2015 |

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the fact that this regulation is open-ended, the decision to intervene is understandable with respect to government spending. With regard to the risk for individual households, though, it is remarkable in view of their record of mortgage arrears. In fact, for quite a while the Netherlands has had the lowest level of mortgage payment arrears and the fewest execution sales in Europe (Van Hoek and Koning, 2012; Neuteboom, 2008).

The third reason to reduce the level of mortgage indebtedness is the rule that has been imposed on banks since Basel III. They are now required to increase the amount of their own financial reserves (i.e., to recapitalize). Obviously, this is not “The problems faced by Dutch banks are conducive to a generous attitude compounded by the fact that they are to mortgage provision in the under-capitalized.� future. The problems faced by Dutch banks are compounded by the fact that, unlike many foreign banks, they are under-capitalized, even though the savings quote of Dutch households is very high from an international perspective. However, those savings are held by the pension funds and are thus unavailable to the banks as collateral for their mortgage portfolios.

Nonetheless, until the credit crisis, this was not an insurmountable problem.

The Dutch banks could borrow on favorable terms on the international capital market and could sell their bundled mortgages onward on the same international capital market by means of securitizations. Due to the financial crisis brought about by the subprime mortgages, the latter option had recently almost entirely disappeared, while the interest on the equity investment needed for their recapitalization had increased sharply. Since mid-2012, incidentally, Dutch banks have again been trading mortgages through securitization programs. The consequence of this specifically Dutch funding or deposit problem is that since 2008 the mortgage interest rates have been roughly 1.5% higher here than in neighboring countries. Prior to 2008, the interest levels were virtually identical. And this relatively high level of Dutch mortgage interest rates also has a negative influence on the borrowing capacity of households.

It is not entirely clear whether it was the stricter criteria or the reluctance of the banks to extend mortgages that caused the volume of mortgage originations to decline so steeply in recent years. Presumably the two developments reinforce each other.

Conclusion and future developments This paper has described how the behavior of various major financial organizations has contributed to the deep crisis that envelops the owner-occupancy housing market in the Netherlands. Certain 36

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interests of these organizations -- notably a fear of losing their triple-A credit status and the recommendation/requirement to increase their own capital buffers -- carry more weight in their decisions than the problems on the market for owner-occupancy housing. In view of the steep decrease in value that has already occurred and that is yet forthcoming, as well as the collapse of the building production, from the perspective of the housing market and the consequences for households and the overall economy, however, it is doubtful that the impact of their stance has been, and above all will be, good for the country as a whole.

Unemployment is rising rapidly in the construction industry (where almost 100.000 were out of work at the end of 2014); the number of bankruptcies in that sector is extremely high; and more than one million owner-occupiers have a mortgage that exceeds the value of their dwelling. Since 2013, the policy course set by the government that came into power in September 2012 has not only continued ratio ing credit but has made it tougher to get a loan. Certain measures in particular -- requiring new mortgages to be paid off fully as annuities; imposing harsher housing-cost standards in the NIBUD tables to calculate the affordability of mortgage loans as of January 2012; tapering off the maximum loan-to-value ratio to bring it from 106% in 2012 down to 100% in 2018; and lowering the ceiling for an NHG mortgage insurance from 350,000 Euro in 2012 to 245,000 Euro in 2015 -- have a negative impact. Hardest hit are the starters, who have a key role to play in the recovery of the housing market.

Yet a very different range of policy recommendations came out of a parliamentary inquiry published in the spring of 2013 that reconstructed the history of twenty years of rising house prices in the Netherlands.

The findings of the committee may be paraphrased as follows. For years, and even decades, house prices had deviated from the long-term equilibrium, with major implications for the house-building market and household debt. Because house prices in an inventory market are largely determined by demand in the short to mid term, the government should monitor demand and, if necessary, take stabilizing measures. Promoting the availability of mortgage loans would be a likely instrument. One option in times of falling prices would be a calculated easing, though without making the same old mistakes (Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal, 2013, p.12). The last of these recommendations contravenes decades of housing market policy in the Netherlands, but also that of the recently installed government. On the basis of the committee’s recommendations as summarized above, several alternatives could be considered. Concretely, in the short term, it might be better: not to tighten the criteria for extending a mortgage; to support starters on the

prof. dr. Peter Boelhouwer Peter Boelhouwer graduated in 1983 in social geography at the University of Utrecht awarded a PhD in 1988 for his research into the effects of the sale of rented homes by social housing associations. Since 2001 he has spent two days a week at the faculty where he is responsible for the housing policy component of the Master’s programme in Real Estate & Housing.

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housing market; and to invest in making the existing housing stock more sustainable. Meanwhile, preparations could be made to implement the structural adjustments to the housing policy proposed previously by various committees (Boelhouwer and Priemus, 2012). One such change is a new tenure-neutral subsidy system. Ultimately the implementation of these proposals would lead to a far more fundamental revision of housing policy than the present government envisions for the remainder of its four-year term. However, a lengthy period of transition, lasting thirty years, is projected, during which time the deductibility of mortgage interest payments can be phased out completely and the rents can gradually be increased to market levels without producing negative side-effects in the short term.

References

Boelhouwer, P.J., and H. Priemus, 2012, Housing system reform: the opinion of advisory boards versus political reality in the Netherlands, Journal of housing and the Built Environment 27, pp.527542.

Boelhouwer, P.J., 2013, How financial markets and institutions disrupt the Dutch housing market, 2013, Paper ENHR Tarragona international conference, overcoming the crisis: integrating the urban environment, 19-22 June Tarragona, Book of abstracts, p.39.

Hoek, T. en M. Koning, 2012, Situatie op de Nederlandse hypotheekmarkt, EIB, Amsterdam.

Neuteboom, P., 2008, On the rationality of borrower’s behaviour. Comparing risk attitudes of homeowners. DUP Science, Sustainable Urban Areas 21, (IOS Press).

Ploeg, S., van der en E. Alink, 2012, Waarde daalt, restschuld stijgt. Eigen huis magazine, oktober 2012.

Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal, 2013, Eindrapport, een reconstructie van 20 jaar stijgende huizenprijzen. Den Haag. Tweede Kamer.

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Design and Problem Solving: Not a “tool” but a “part” Karan Gupta & Wenhan Hu Just as in the previous magazine, BOSS magazine decided to publish one of the essays by students studying Real Estate and Housing at Delft University of Technology. For the course Management & Finance 2, students were asked to write an essay about a specific management theme, by applying their insights from both academic and practical insights and knowledge.

Views on management in real estate can be different. Since this magazine focusses on the question how international real estate actually is, the winners of this essay were chosen based on to what extent this was incorporated in their essay.

We are very proud to announce that the essay of Karan Gupta and Wenhan Hu has been chosen to be published. Karan and Wenhan are two international students themselves. They make an argument that design could be used for problem solving.

Striking, since this could be seen as one of the core concepts of the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

Introduction Design and problem solving are not isolated tools “used” in management (in this case managing the built environment). They are an omnipresent, inseparable part of the management process. Additionally design and problem solving are themselves mutually dependant and not two separate entities.

This essay attempts to put forward the argument that design needs to omnipresent and not mutually exclusive to other processes in management. It also provides a deeper exploration of how design and problem solving work in the scenario of management and in particular the management of the built environment.

“The use of design as a tool to manage a project requires a in depth analysis of the concepts of design thinking and design process.”

All processes related to the built environment are highly complicated.

Be it design, construction or maintenance. While managing the design part is quite a common rhetoric, discussing the use of design as a tool to manage a project requires a more in depth analysis of the concepts of design thinking, design process, and the role of management in the built environment. Before delving further into design management, we must also look at the importance of management as a whole for the built environment.

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Why manage at all within the built context?

Sebastian (2005) gives an account of the complexity of design and building construction as a major reason for the demand of management approaches. According to him, there are three kinds of difficulties that every project deals with: ”The actual complexity of a building project results from: 1. The technical difficulty. The technical difficulty is the logical consequence of the combination of different functions, forms, structures, procurement, and financial strategies in largescale projects 2. The social difficulty. The social difficulty is inevitable because of the involvement of a large number of stakeholders and participants with competing and incommensurable objectives.

3. Uniqueness (Sebastian, 2005). The uniqueness of design is reflected in the nature of the design problem, the design process employed in its solution, and the design practitioner.

Why design and problem solving in management?

Boland. R and Collopy. F (2013) believe that if managers adopted a design attitude, the world of business would be a different and better. v Frank O. Gehry Partners, a world “The parties in the process of design and renowned architectural practice bulding possess a unique competence can be used as an example of an organisation where design is not for simultaneously reconstrucing the just architectural design but a problems and reframing the solutions.” medium to manage and solve problems (Boland. R & Collopy. F, 2013). Most design and construction projects are illdefined, interconnecting many factors, and always in dynamic tension with the solutions. The process is iterative, while the analysis often is done through synthesis. The parties in the process of design and building possess a unique competence for simultaneously reconstructing the problems and reframing the solutions. They work in knowledge intensive organizations that cannot be managed only by laying down rules and procedures.

This is in fact, exactly what Mintzberg defines as an “organisational adhocracy” (Lunenburg, 2012). It can thus be said that in an “adhoc situation creative process must be synthesised for the smooth flow of a project activity such as construction. This is where design and problem solving become imperative to management. This brings us to the actual definitions of design and problem solving in the context of ma aging the built environment. While it can be argued that these two terms are separate entities with differing meanings, it would be incorrect to assume that they are mutually exclusive. Thus design is considered as a 40

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the overall entity and problem solving as a function, a sub set of design thinking.

Problem Solving and Design: Two Mutually inclusive entities As mentioned earlier, problem solving will be looked at as a subset of design thinking and not as an individual topic. However it is important to realise that problems are inherent to any design process and must be explored further to understand the role of design in management more deeply. A problem essentially, is even more omnipresent that design since its scope is much wider and broader. However in this essay the scope of problem solving would be limited to management scenarios. A problem is quite hard to define since it is quite a vague concept. Some people object to use of the word “problem” itself. According to Bruil, Heurkens, and Lousberg (2015), a problem is anything, matter or person etc; that is difficult to solve, or overcome. However it is important to note that a problem is not restricted to a situation with an element of complaint (Bruil et al., 2015). For example, a strategic analysis of a process or product could lead to the development of measure which enables maximum output from existing potential and also deflecting all potential threats (read: problems) (Bruil et al., 2015). So here we observe that problem solving is not a necessity but more of an opportunity.

Problems can be defined as constraints that are limitations on action.

They impose boundaries on solutions. However these boundaries have the potential to inspire. It is these boundaries that set the creative process in action and inspire people to look for solutions from a different perspective (Vandenbosch & Gallagher, 2013). Local planning laws become problems for architects while the laws of nature become problems for an engineer. In the same way, costs, deadlines etc can become constraints for a manager. Additionally the various ways in which problems are dealt with can be called termed as the different areas of management. In other words, every technique of dealing with problems is nothing but another tool of management. Negotiating is the struggle of reducing or modifying constraints, planning is done to foresee and mitigate the risks posed by constraints. In the same way leadership serves as to give direction to push beyond constraints and communication can be about disseminating information about constraints. So as with design, we see that the concept of problem solving is part and parcel of management, and a design attitude is one of the best ways to look at the at problem solving because it perceives problems not as negative roadblocks, but as an opportunity which inspires to creativity.

Karan Gupta As an international student from India, Karan is pursuing his Masters’ degree in Real Estate and Housing. With his background in architecture from the University School of Architecture & Planning, GGSIPU, Karan has a broad scope on what real estate is about. He hopes to return to India with the knowledge acquired in Delft and to make an impact back home.

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Perspectives on design “IN” management.

There can be a plethora of definitions for design. Here, two perspectives are discussed. In the context of realising and managing the builtenvironment, design can be termed as “the synthesis of a process”.

Here the process is designed, a model is made of the process that is to be carried out in the future (Bruil et al., 2015). This is the first perspective on design in management. Bruil et al. (2015) describe the role of design in management from three interrelated perspectives.

These are: 1. Design as the system/ product itself 2. Design as the process of making the system/product, and 3. Design as a steering force.

Wenhan Hu The Shanghai born, Wenhan, is on the quest to becoming a real estate expert. Her ambition has brought her to the Technical University in Delft, where she is pursuing a masters’ degree in the field of Real Estate and Housing.

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Firstly, design can be called an artefact itself. It is the model of the future.

In terms of management, design is the model of the process that will take place (Bruil et al., 2015). It could also be the model for relationships between various stakeholders in a project. According to Bruil et al.

(2015) design is a representation of the desired future. Secondly, from the perspective of management of the built environment, design can designed as the process of making the model itself. Hence it is the very process of designing a future system (Bruil et al., 2015). Thus as defined

by Leeuw (2002), design is a systematic and creative process of activities which has its aim to making a model of future system which will deliver desired results, while taking into account the boundary conditions.

Thirdly, design can be seen as a particular form of steering (Bruil et al., 2015). This is about giving directing, controlling and (re)designing the built environment. Design here can be regarded as a means to influence the transformation of a problematic situation into an improved one (Bruil et al., 2015).

Another perspective on design in management is explored by Brown (2008), where he defines the design attitude as a methodology that imbues the full spectrum of innovation activities with a humancentred design ethos. Here innovation is driven by a thorough understanding and direct observation of human needs and aspirations (Brown, 2008).

Though this design thinking is in the context of products and services, it can also be equated to managing the built environment. Brown (2008) cites the example of Thomas Edison and his invention of the light bulb as design thinking. The light bulb in itself was a little more than a gimmick, a trick. However, Edison could foresee and work towards a whole system of power generation and distribution to make the light bulb possible (Brown, 2008). Brown (2008) argues that design thinking is not a linear process, but a series a spaces set within an iterative process. These

spaces are defined as “inspiration”, that is the first idea of the product or service; “ideation”, that is the process of developing it further; and “implementation” which is charting the path to the market.

Putting these perspectives together: “Design as a Product, Process and Direction.”

These perspectives provide an interesting plurality to design in the context of management. While design is the system itself, it is also the process of defining the system. This brings us to the conclusion that design is in a way omnipresent in the practice of management. It cannot be isolated as one aspect of management.

Also while these perspectives provide a plurality to design in management, they also stress pon the importance of a process. Bruil et al. (2015) talk about a more tangible and structure process while Brown (2008) explore a seemingly more chaotic and iterative process. However essentially they are stressing on the same issue. The fact that design thinking in management is about the product, the process and the direction. The two literatures only have different methods of exploring these three topics. It is also important to realise that connecting design with all three (product, process and direction) gives design a broad spectrum of activities. From the help of these perspectives we are able to identify the various means “By determining the future process model through which design and design design enables the manager to predict thinking add value in managing the built environment. It is this definition possible problems and their solutions of design, where it is linked to the beforehand.” process and to determining a way for the future, that makes it an important cog in the wheel that is management. By determining the future process model design enables the manager to predict possible problems and their solutions beforehand. It provides an easily visualised snapshot of the whole process which also makes it easier for the manager to communicate with all the parties and stakeholders.

Another perspective in which we can apply the notion of design to management systems is by looking at the role of design as a creative thought process. Having a designed process, direction and system in place makes it possible to creatively adjust it to the dynamic needs of the project by going through an iterative process. Having gained an exhaustive overview of the role and meaning of desin in the arena of management, the focus now shifts to the concept of problem solving.

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Conclusion From the above arguments and exploration of the opinions of various writers, it is clear that design and problem have a tremendous pluralityin terms of understanding and definitions. However some things are made quite clear. The first is regarding the fact that design can be defined as a product, process and direction. Additionally another point that has been made clear is that problem solving is not isolated, but is actually part of every managerial process, be it negotiation, communication etc.

The light shed on design and problem solving by this essay actually makes it very clear that both are essentially part and parcel of management and not separate tools. Because it is interesting that we are able to define design in a way we might actually define the term management itself as a product, process and direction, while all the areas of management are methods of problem solving (another notion that we have set down). again putting these two notions gives a logical argument of the “equalness” and “mutual inclusiveness” of design and problem solving.

These we are able to again stress that: Design and problem solving are not isolated tools “used” in management (in this case managing the built environment). They are an omnipresent, inseparable part of the management process. Additionally design and problem solving are themselves mutually dependant and not two separate entities.

References

Boland. R, & Collopy. F. (2013). M anaging as Designing (Boland.

R & Collopy. F Eds.). Standford, California: Stanford University Press.

Brown, T. (2008). Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review .

Bruil, I., Heurkens, E., & Lousberg, L. (2015). Management Thoughts and Practices. Delft Delft University of Technology.

Leeuw, P. d. i. A. C. J. d. (2002). Bedrijfskundig Management.

Primary process, strategy and organization.

Lunenburg, F. (2012). Organizational Structure: Mintzberg’s Framework. I NTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY, 14 (1).

Sebastian, R. (2005). The Interface between Design and Management. D esign Issues, 21 (1), 81-93. doi: 10.2307/25223981

Vandenbosch, B., & Gallagher, K. (2013). The Role of Constraints. In Boland. R & Collopy. F (Eds.), Managing as Designing .

Stanford, California: Standford University Press. (Reprinted from: 2013).

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De website voor (young) professionals en studenten die een carrière in het vastgoed ambiëren.

Interessante jobs Leerzame stages Career events En meer...

Hét carrièreplatform van stichting FRESH

www.freshcareer.nl

Foundation for Real Estate Students from Holland

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‘Little London’, a neighboorhood near Accra with designs of Immanuel Sirron-Kakpor.

Interview with Immanuel Sirron Kakpor - Dutch Ghanaian Architect.

John Angoh

What do you do when you get fired just after gaining a year’s contract as an architect at The Hague Municipal department of Urban Development due to a global economic hiccup? This is the question Immanuel Sirron Kakpor posed to himself before leaving the Western world to West Africa, Ghana.

What do you do when you manage to setup an architectural firm in a country that does not have a municipal urban department like you are used to and you realize the way you are trained to look at architecture simply does not apply? Thirdly what do you do when you are not just competing with fellow architects for projects, but also the local artisans, masons and even the client? Lastly, what do you do when despite the numerous challenges; all you see are opportunities in a country with a growing middleclass and a strong private sector? These are a few questions that the Dutch- Ghanaian architect struggles with daily and tries to answer in the interview below. This interview captures challenges and opportunities of real estate in a developing African country from the perspective of an African born Dutch architect.

Who are you?

Born in Ghana, I resided in the Netherlands between 1994 and 2012. I migrated to Holland with my family after completion of polytechnic in Ghana.

What is your Educational background?

I hold a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. I studied Architectural Design at Royal Academy of Fine Arts The Hague, Architecture and Urban Design at Royal Danish Academy School of Architecture Copenhagen – Denmark.

What is your Professional Experience in the Netherlands ?

Well, at the moment I am working as a Principal Architect at my firm,

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Sirron-Kakpor Architects which has an office in Ghana and the Netherlands. From working as a post-man to pursuing an architectural degree, I have always been moved by my fascination for building.

After completing my education as an interior architect from the art Academy The Hague, I furthered my education at the academy of Architecture In Rotterdam to become an architect.

I worked afterwards as Assistant Architect and Urban Designer with several offices in The Netherlands: - The Hague Municipal Department of Urban Development, Jo Coenen & Co Architects Amsterdam and Vera Yanovshtchinsky Architects BV – The Hague.

Since 2007, my office has initiated two educational projects - Ghana Atelier: A research project on informal settlement at Ayigya, in Kumasi, Ghana. Ghanascapes: A project which aims to stimulate innovative thinking about architecture, landscape and urbanism through an exchange between students from Ghana and the Netherlands.

Both projects were successfully executed in collaboration with Ghanaian partners, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Kumasi, Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA), Ho-Polytechnic, Volta Regional Coordination Council (VRCC) and The Nederland partners, The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) Rotterdam, Rotterdam Academy of Architecture (AvBR) and Amsterdam Academy of Architecture (AAvB).

Working with Jo Coenen I was exposed to the urban design world. We worked from city planning to block scale while at Vera Yenovschtchinscky Architects gave me experience in housing.

Design by Sirron-Kakpor Architects for Bolga East Junior Secondary School 2013.

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Transition to Ghana (Africa). Why and how this came about?

During my education at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture I would organize educational programs in correspondence with educational institutions in Ghana. This is how the transition to Ghana was born. My passion to do architecture in Ghana and play a role in its development grew with time. It was however during the financial crisis, after being laid off at the City council in The Hague, a year after being offered a permanent contract that I knew it was time to pack my bags. As hard as the decision was to make, I was Ghana bound.

Immanual Sirron Kakpor Graduating from Royal Academy of Fine Arts -The Hague as Architectural Designer. He studied Architecture and the Urban Design at Royal Danish Academy School of Architecture Copenhagen – Denmark and the Academy of Architecture Rotterdam. He has been awarded several prizes for his contribution to architecture and urban debate. Most recently he was granted an Architecture Starter Stipend from The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Having worked as Assistant Designer with two offices: between 2001 – 2004 at Jo Coenen & Co Architects – Amsterdam and between 2006 – 2008 at Vera Yanovshtchinsky Architects BV – The Hague. He is currently running his own architectural bureau in Accra, Ghana and has a corresponding branch in the Netherlands.

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How difficult was it to establish yourself in Ghana?

It is still difficult, however because of the Network I built during my education with the universities in Ghana, I was able to immediately set up a bureau. I initially worked for about 6 months for a friend architect Joe Addo who gave insight on the market and actors in the Ghanaian market.

I am still in the process of registration with the Ghanaian institute of architects; so I still use my Dutch stamp to do private projects. It is only with international projects that I employ a local architect in the form of a partnership, as my registration is not yet complete. The system is not watertight and there is always a way out.

How is the building process?

It depends a lot on the projects and the clients. Although there are various actors and the structure is similar to that of Holland (traditional), in Ghana the various actors are not very well differentiated. Everyone can adopt any role depending on what is most favorable during the project. Most of the time the client tries as much as possible to cut out the project managers and architect. The client often deals directly with local contractors. I remember my first project that I did at East Legon, Accra, after the design the client took the design, found a street artisan or mason and started building himself. He then goes in to lobby for the permits etc. and this is very typical. What I am trying to do is introduce project forms such as design and build concepts to prevent managers and architects from being cut out.

Are terms like design and build common among the building engineering students and architects?

No, they are not familiar with this. They think it’s all about designing only. An architect only visits the project site about 3 or 4 times and is not involved in the process at all. The design and build will keep the various actors involved and things can be monitored much better.

Nevertheless although you see traits of this in international projects, it is not as watertight as in Holland.

How is the investment process?

I remember working on a project for imperial development (mortgage broker). They as clients purchase a land and come to you to develop concepts and look for finance. We often look for investors outside and inside Ghana. This is because most of them deal with banks in Ghana. After setting up a projection we just go around banks looking for investors. It is working however the process often takes a while. If somebody wants to invest 40 million ghcedis (8,4 million euro), he would have to come down to Ghana to ensure everything is trustworthy.

How is the market?

The housing sector is booming. However the problem is finance since there are no proper governmental structures in place for financing. The mortgage system is simply “If somebody wants to invest 40 million not working. So we go to the ghcedis (8,4 million euro), he would governmental organizations such as have to come down to Ghana to ensure the teachers associations and sell a project to them. People need houses, everything is trustworthy.� from high end to affordable. There is great demand but the supply is very limited to the private sector. There is nothing like a social housing system as is seen in Holland. That would be an excellent idea for the low earning market. The government however sometimes does affordable housing for its workers and soldiers etc.

Due to the large demand there is a lot of opportunity. For instance mixed use is growing very popular lately. Combinations of shopping malls with housing, cinemas and other leisure functions are guaranteed success.

Another opportunity in the market is the use of new technology and materials in Ghana. Methods to build fast, cheap and easy will work such as prefab as often used in Holland.

How about the municipal involvement?

We have lots of municipal policies, but these are not working. The locals see this as an opportunity as it gives more flexibility and freedom, however it may be seen as a weakness. I visited a project recently and you could see that there is no light coming in the building, living rooms or bedrooms, at all and because nobody is controlling with norms, it is accepted. These apartments are going for about 150000 dollars and people are buying. This is because there is a growing middle class.

How about the municipal policies?

There is nothing like a structural vision for 25 years. The system is very loose. I haven’t come across a development plan for housing for a particular time frame. It is not like in Holland where the municipality July 2015 |

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At the construction site

and government are constantly looking at things from an urban scale to better things.

Due to this, the private sector has the upper hand and are calling the shots. They buy land develop it and go back to the government and tell them, we need light. So you see projects built in locations that do not fit those locations. The truth of the matter is that there are regulations to involve the municipalities in projects; however this is not the case. Clients therefore do often finish the design and before looking at ways to attain permits.

Do you see the organization in the building sector being structured in the near future?

No no no , I think it will probably take 100years before things like social housing market gets grounded.. (laughter) But Ghanaians are happy with the system, that he builds his own house. The middle class is glad he buys a land, built a foundation or a fence wall while saving some money to complete it himself.

For instance, a building permit takes about a year to attain so people just start building and when there is inspection you just give them some money and continue building. It’s basically a cat and mouse game.

What are some of the challenges of the professional?

Another challenge is agreement and time. People do not value your time as a professional. Clients often do not fulfill simple agreements and consider an architect as a draftsman. I always have to explain to them that like a doctor prescribes medicine, I as an architect advise on building sustainably. But all the client thinks about is to get the blockwork done, plaster it and fix air-conditioning in it.

But I blame the architectural profession for this. In Holland things are organized. Seminars are often organized to think about the future and address issues. Also the correspondence between the municipality and the professional does not exist. There is only a government quantity surveyor but nothing like a municipal architect or urban planner like we have in Holland. So the structures are simply not in place. Recently the Dutch embassy organized an urban event on a project I did with Jo Coenen, and I pointed this out. I told them it is essential to have at least

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a regional or provincial architect because there is no one thinking about future plans. The surveyor, which they do have, just goes and measure or demarcates the land. But this is not enough if we want to see structure. There is a lack of estate managing a planning, although there is a town planning department. This department is just concerned with demarcating and giving out permits but what should be build is not put to thought.

What is the difficulty in realizing a project as a foreign developer?

The only difficulty is documentation processes and securing the land.

But with a good network you can do a lot in Ghana. Although the local professionals have the technical knowhow, the growing trend is a blend between foreign and locals professionals. Currently I am working with Butterfly Housing BV, Hilversum, Frederick Groos and Robert van Kats, www.butterflyhouing.com - butterfly house is an open building approach to housing in Africa. We are in process of introducing it in Ghana. Also collaboration with The Kitchen People BV, Oldenzaal – www. thekitchenpenpeople.eu - providing kitchen, wardrobe and interior design service to low and high end apartments. Finally we are working with DEPOT99 and FM Bouw, Peter van Kooten to provide affordable housing in Ghana. www.steelframeassociation.nl. Research is also a very important part of our professional so my office is also collaboration with Michelle Provoost (Crimson, International New Town Institute (INTI) and local partners. Joe Addo (Archiafrica) Prof. Affram (KNUST) Nubuke Foundation, Accra

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What are your ambitions?

My greatest wish or ambition would be to have the municipality realize the significance of building departments and therefore better “There is a need for structure. More the position of the professional in awareness has to be created on the the market. There is a need to have concept of government architects and structure. I believe more awareness project managers who work on urban has to be created on the concept of government architects and project design.� managers who work on urban design with the interest of the public in mind. I also aim at educating the artisans who are often employed in the construction sector on what construction and building really entails. This is probably the biggest challenge. The bricklayer has a very big role in the building sector although they do not really understand what they are doing. I would very much like to build a stronger relation between Holland and Ghana as the policies of the Dutch with regards to construction is something we can learn a lot from.

Growing city – Accra

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Syntrus Achmea: Foreign investments Tine Nientker The 7th of May, Geert de Nekker, director International Real Estate of Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance, gave a lecture about foreign investments. Syntrus Achmea is an investor that invests in real estate in different countries.

As this year’s study trip destination of BOSS will be Miami and Cuba, part of the research is related to foreign investments.

We were therefore delighted that Geert could provide us with insights from the perspective of Syntrus’ asset management; this following article is an edited transcript of his lecture.

General facts of Syntrus Achmea Geert de Nekker works at Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance (Syntrus Achmea). Syntrus Achmea is part of the Achmea insurance company.

Syntrus Achmea takes care of services to Dutch pension funds in the field of pension scheme administration and asset management. Geert works at the department of asset management of real estate, which is based in Amsterdam. The department runs a portfolio that consists of €7.4 billion real estate assets in the Netherlands. Syntrus Achmea has a diverse portfolio. The residential portfolio has the largest share of their whole portfolio. However, their portfolio also consists of retail and offices and since a few years also real estate in health care.

Different roles in different parts of the world Syntrus Achmea is not only active in the Netherlands, they are also active in Europe, The United States of America and Asia. The investments have different sorts of risk profiles, which can be categorized as follows: • Core (+): invest in good existing markets with low risks • Value add: the projects need to be improved, like redevelopment, which leads to a higher risk • Opportunistic: the highest amount of risks, but opportunity for profits Syntrus Achmea invests in all three categories. Core+ investment is mostly found in Europe and the United States. Value add is a small category, which is done little in Europe and a little in the United States.

Most opportunistic investments are done in Asia (mostly in China).

Geert de Nekker Geert is the leader of the business unit International Real Estate at Syntrus Achmea since 2010. Before that he was executive board member of Cordares Vermogensbeheer and director of Cordares Real Estate.

Direct and indirect investment Foreign investments done by Syntrus Achmea are mostly not in bricks and mortar. Since 2004, Syntrus Achmea looks for non-stock market listed real estate funds (private real estate funds). They select funds that July 2015 |

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invest in real estate, which means that the funds it selves are expected to have the real estate on their balance. In this way, Syntrus Achmea invests in foreign countries in an indirect way. Syntrus Achmea also invests in funds that are opportunistic and deal with project development. In Europe, predominantly in Germany and France, Syntrus Achmea is also investing directly in bricks and mortar, but always with in cooperation with a local partner.

Tactics in international investment Risk diversification An important factor for pension funds choosing to invest in real estate, is risk diversification. Nowadays real estate in the portfolio is categorised as ‘real assets’ (other real assets are: infrastructure, private equity, commodities, timber, etc.). It is an investment segment that is less transparent and less liquid but linked to the real economy, so therefore less sensitive to speculation.

Investing all over the world.

Normally, real estate in the portfolio of a pension fund is about 5-15% of the total portfolio. A share of 10% is normal, but some investment companies might have a larger share of real estate in their portfolio. In foreign countries, the interest in real estate of institutional investors is increasing.

Diversification in types of real estate Syntrus Achmea focuses on core real estate and for a maximum of 20% on value add real estate. They invest mainly in multifamily rental apartments, grocery anchored retail, high street retail and logisics. There is not much space for investing in large shopping malls because these are all owned by listed real estate funds. Therefore these shopping malls will not end up on the market and even if they did, clients would possibly not be interested because of the size and the risk of e-commerce. For that reason, Syntrus Achmea focuses on grocery anchored retail a.o. These are malls with supermarkets as anchor tenants and small shops around it. They do not suffer from e-commerce, which makes it interesting to invest in these types of real estate.

Portfolio of Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance, department of Asset Management of Real Estate.

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Impacts of the crisis LTV The crisis caused investors to rethink their loan to value strategies. Loan to value describes the percentage that a bank finances an investment.

For the private real estate funds Syntrus Achmea invested into, this was normaly 35% equity and 65% bank finance. During the crisis, sometimes tenants could not pay their rent, which lead to the fact that the banks did

not receive the interest payments anymore. Combined with the fact that the banks did not receive the interest payments anymore. Combined with the fact that the value of property decreased, the banks demanded that dividend payments should be paid to the banks instead to the investors. The lesson learned from the crisis is that there is nowadays a limit for the leverage, which is preferable 50% maximum.

The reason for international investments is to diversify. As the number of Dutch investors is relatively small compared with the amount of foreign investors that are interested in the Dutch investment market. For the yield of Dutch real estate this is okay; there seems to be a big demand so the prices go up as well. But as an investor, you also need to wonder, what is the reason for the rising prices? The reason could be that tenants are prepared to pay a higher rent or there is a great demand for real estate which drives the yield down (lower yield, increase value).. The last one is the case.

“The lesson learned from the crisis is that there is a limit for the leverage, which is preferable 50% maximum.�

Post crisis USA reaction This was also the case in the United States in 2010. After the crisis the yields in the real estate market went down very fast. The share in real estate after the crisis has been above the 10-20%.

The first two to three years the real estate market recovered not because of tenants that were prepared to pay more rent, but because the investor gained more trust in the market and were more prepared to buy real estate. Prices were adjusted later and sorted on economic growth. Rents went up. This is also the phenomenon today in Europe.

The United States has several big markets, which Miami is also a part of. It is a locally much diversified economy. Another remarkable thing is that the economy is climbing up again after the crisis. They hit rock bottom, but after 2010 the market has been recovering. First, there was the recovery in logistics and the residential market and after that in the office market. However, it has been really dependent of the location and types of offices. And now finally the retail market is recovering, which has to do with consumer confidence, which is still not improving very much in the United States.

The expectations for the United States are positive. There will be growth the coming years, and the possibilities for investing are increasing.

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In The United States currently an important trend is going on: urbanisation, which is a worldwide trend. However, for the United States it is relatively new. Until recently the number of suburbs were increasing, but nowadays a lot of people want to live in the inner cities. Especially young people want to stay, work, live and have fun in the cities. It is a strong trend in the United States, which also leads to more attraction of other real estate segments.

It is also a phenomenon in the Netherlands, in de Randstad. Especially Amsterdam is booming, everyone wants to be in the city and would like to work and live there.

Places where Achmea invests in in the United States

Lessons in foreign investment Policies Syntrus Achmea invests in de West coast, East coast and in the South.

South is not Florida, but Texas, with cities like Houston, Denver and Austin. It is a dynamic area that is mainly focussed on oil, still it is not a single industry economy: they are very diverse.

States like Texas do have disadvantages for investors. Texas does not have any “The expectations for the United States planning restrictions. This means that are positive. There will be growth the there are no rules and that everything coming years, and the possibilities for is possible. When there is a demand for a certain type of real estate, it will investing are increasing.� be build. For an investor this is very risky. As an investor you want something that is scarce, in an area where it is very hard to duplicate that. It allows for more competition, which is now not the case in Texas. At the east- and west coast there are more restrictions and barriers, which makes it less risky for investors to invest in real estate.

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Index When having a rental contract that is indexed, you’re covered against risks of inflation. In foreign countries, it is important to find out how the indexing works there. Quite often is it very different than here in the Netherlands.

Currencies Currency has risks. Syntrus Achmea invests in the United States in dollars.

They have a 12% yield in dollars. The issue however is that the pension funds here are dominated in euros. And after the value of the dollar has increased so much, the yield was 27% in euros, but it can also go in the opposite direction..

Hedging currency risk can cost a lot of money. Hedging the American dollar is not that expensive, but that is not the case for the Australian dollar. Hedging the Australian dollar costs around 300 basis points on the yield. So if the yield was 10%, only 7% is left after hedging the currency.

The question is whether an investor is willing to hedge the foreign currencies or not. When you do not do this you need to face the risks, as the currency fluctuates a lot.

Possibilities in emerging markets At this moment Syntrus Achmea only invests in the emergent markets in China. They have invested in other countries, but they noticed that the risks are very high and you need to ask yourself if you want to get involved. They are active in China and they will be, but Syntrus Achmea will not quickly move to another emergent market, it simply costs too much money, too much time and results in too much risks and failures.

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What is smart city? (author of cartoon: Bas Köhler, TRANSFORM cartoonist)

TRANSFORM: Smart cities, smart energy, smart people Karolína Dvořáková & Ronald van Warmerdam Sustainability and energy efficiency are terms resonating all around us, slowly affecting the way our cities are being built. Today’s cities use vast amounts of energy, which generally comes from fossil fuels like gas, petrol or coal. However, due to the scarcity of these resources and their environmental impact, such dependency of the cities needs to change in the future. As Nobel Prize winner Frederick Soddy said hundred years ago, “if the supply of energy failed, modern civilization would come to an end as abruptly as does the music of an organ deprived of wind”. At this time, when more than half of the world’s population is urban and cities contribute to more than 75% of global CO2 emissions, the issue of the smart energy city becomes more and more relevant and the “hunt” for (sustainable) solutions on various levels of policymaking is inevitable. TRANFORM has developed several tools to help in some steps of this formidable task of turning current cities into smart energy cities.

The overall approach of TRANSFORM is based on providing policymakers functional methods and tools to help them steer the city in the direction of the energy efficiency and low carbon emissions. First we will discuss the issue of policy-making. We will elaborate on formulating city energy visions, followed by the description of the data issue. We will conclude by stressing out the importance of international collaboration regarding such complex topic as urban energy transition.

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1. Smart energy city = a city which compared to common city has lower energy demand, uses preferably renewable sources of energy, and has low level of CO2 emissions

To be able to come up with a thoughtful decision, which is eventually turned into a well-stated policy document regarding cities and sustainability, reliable basis information (in case of TRANSFORM Big Data) is needed together with a proper problem statement. However, that is not all; a policy-maker needs to posses persuasive skills, but also humility to opinions of others, as well as power and courage to actually be able to steer the decisions. All in the complex environment of a city. Within the city organization the policy making occurs on different levels: on the strategic level, covering the whole city, where defining the holistic vision of the city takes place or on the district level, where more detailed and integral plans could be developed. These levels of policy making correspond with some of the TRANSFORM deliverables: the transformation agenda of cities and the implementation plans of selected city district.

TRANSFORM is an European FP7 project which started in the end of 2012 and will be finished in the summer of 2015. For two and half years the consortium of 6 frontrunner cities (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Vienna, Genoa and Lyon) together with 13 commercial and knowledge partners works on research about the energy transition and smart city development in order to realize the EU energy targets 20-20-20 (20% lower CO2 emissions, 20% energy from renewables, 20% increase in energy efficiency). The aim of the project is to shed light onto smart city processes and methodologies on how to design smart energy plans and executable projects, based upon co-creation of involved stakeholders. The work done in the project is divided into several packages, each focusing on different aspect of the problem statement and developing different tools to support the policy-makers in their decisions.

How to transform a city to low carbon?

The most complex deliverable of TRANSFORM is the transformation agenda (TA). All TRANSFORM cities have an energy plan, where the cities’ targets are clearly defined. However, almost all cities have problems with reaching these set goals easily. Why? Because the energy transition is extremely complex and consists of multi aspects such as transport, quality of buildings, energy for industry, sun or geothermal potential. Moreover, ownership of buildings, legal constraints, tendering issues, ownership of infrastructure and power plants are also part of the system and influence the change. To make it even more complex, each of the six TRANSFORM cities have different starting points, thus facing different challenges on, for instance the electricity mix (figure 1). One general “recipe�, usable for all cities, is thus impossible to make.

The TAs are meant to explore changes in the different sectors mentioned above.

And more importantly, the TAs focus on the gap between the real current situation of the city (regarding energy or CO2 emissions) and the envisioned future state into which the city should be turned. The energy targets and the timeframe are either formulated by the European Commission (as the previously stated 20-20-20 Figure 1: Current energy mix of 6 cities involved in the TRANSFORM project (source: Accenture).

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targets) or by the city itself. To give an example we mention the aim of Copenhagen to become the first zero emission town by 2025. Of course such futuristic visions can never be reached without formulating the steps of how the turn a vision into reality.

Figure 2: Example of open energy data in Amsterdam Energy. (Source: maps.amsterdam.nl)

Karolína Dvořáková Karolína is a student from the Czech Republic and currently studying Real Estate and Housing at Delft University of Technology. Besides that, she works in PMB Amsterdam as assistant project coordinator of European project TRANSFORM.

The information issue: Data During the project it became clear that most of the cities do not have a trustworthy overview of their energy system(s). The idea was to first get a reliable overview before starting the work on future solutions. Therefore a vast amount of energy data (Big Data if you wish) needed to be collected and clearly visualized on the map of the city.

By mapping data stakeholders, policy makers and the public are given insight into their energy world. Although TRANSFORM discovered that data is the starting point of a transformation process, it is not easy to get a hold on it. Cities and involved stakeholders, possess a lot of data, but at the beginning of the project almost no one realized that gathering this energy data of the cities was going to be an extremely difficult task.

Amsterdam shows itself as exceptional in a sense that the majority of data (far behind the scope of only energy data) is openly shared with the public online and represented on maps.amsterdam.nl. (figure 2) The trouble with gathering and sharing the data is mostly a policy issue and the regulations of parties involved are the main obstacle.

Some energy providers are reluctant to share the energy data of their customers, because: 1. They believe it invades the privacy of customers.

2. They do not own the data.

3. They intentionally do not share the data due to their internal regulations, being afraid of loosing the privileged position at the market.

4. The data is something, which might be used for new business and thus is valuable.

5. It is not clear, who should pay for the gathering and maintenance of the data.

While gathering the data, TRANSFORM has been also working on developing a software tool, where the data works as input, which literally

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in few clicks of mouse may present the energy potential of certain area.

Although the tool itself is very complex and contain many variables, the possible energy scenarios are shown clearly and function as a basis for starting the dialog among involved stakeholders about what would be the best sustainable energy solution for the area.

The data issue has turned out to be so big that neither TRANSFORM nor the European Commission could imagine all the constraints before the project started. In the contract with the European Commission, signed three years ago, the TRANSFORM partners promised to deliver all data needed for further research and implementation during the project.

Now, almost at the end of the project, we know that this was an almost impossible task to fulfill. However, TRANSFORM is convinced that a step forward has been made in this development and that thanks to the project the discussion about the necessity of open data started to be vibrant in the involved cities. We hope that in the following years more and more cities will follow the Amsterdam approach in publicly sharing the data to be able to work with it on energy solutions supporting energy transition in the near future.

Ronald van Warmerdam Ronald is a project developer and manager at PMB Amsterdam, as well as teacher at the department of Real Estate and Housing at Delft University of Technology. Currently he is coordinating the TRANSFORM project, a partnership between six European cities on industry, consultancy and science.

Collaboration is needed TRANSFORM has gone even beyond the scope of the project itself.

Thanks to the international connections between the participating cities, a lot of knowledge and expertise was able to be exchanged.

The continuation of this successful partnership is needed in order to strengthen the cooperation in implementation the transformation agendas and to acknowledge the pivotal role that cities play in reducing CO2 emissions. This was done at the Smart City Event in Amsterdam on 3rd June by signing a Memorandum of Understanding among the Mayors and Representatives of all the cities. This political act, “gentlemen’s agreement”, is an important moment for each of the participating cities to make another step forward to implementing policies concerning the energy future.

The question of energy transition is very difficult to grasp in its full complexity, however we need to learn how to do that in order to keep up with the living standards we are used to have. Being smart means to change our mindsets about energy usage and thus change our behavior and city policies. In order to be able to do so, we need to learn from each other, use each other’s expertise, but still acknowledge the differences between the cities and the countries. As one of the mottos, driving TRANSFORM forward, says: “We are the first generation which feels the impact of climate change… and the last generation which can do something about it”. Step by step towards smart cities, smart energy, smart people.

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Top 10 most expensive cities to buy real estate Tine Nientker The world is bigger than our own backyard and more and more people are curious to experience the world. In these days it is not strange anymore to emigrate to work and live abroad. Finding a nice accommodation is then the most important thing to start with. But how expensive is it to buy a luxury aparment in this world?

Knight Frank, an independent, global real estate consultancy revealed the most expensive cities to buy luxury property in their Prime International Residential Index report. Based on how many square meters you can buy for $1 million, a top 10 ranking is made. This is the result:

1. Monaco

2. Hong Kong

3. London

4. New York

5. Singapore

Reference: Knight Frank Research (2015). The Wealth Report 2015. London: Pureprint

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How many square meter can you buy for $1 million?

1. Monaco 17 m2 2. Hong Kong 20 m2 3. London 21 m2 4. New York 34 m2 5. Singapore 39 m2 6. Geneva 39 m2 7. Sydney 41 m2 8. Shanghai 48 m2 9. Paris 50 m2 10. Los Angeles 57 m2

London Calling Recently, Joris Luyendijk started a media-hype by publishing his book ‘Dit kan niet waar zijn’. It is a written documentary into London’s financial district the City. Interviewing tons of (ex-) bankers instigated his belief that these bankers act immorally. He argues that large commercial banks have become ‘too big to fail’. I am unsure whether these vast colossal banks are too big to fail, but what I do know is that London’s financial district accommodates the world’s largest banks in a spectacular environment of countless skyscrapers and architectural highlights.

Last summer, I had the luxury to spent four months in what is known as Europe’s financial capital. During my stay we often visited the capital’s extensive pub-life. Every corner of every street has a pub that does not merely serve beer; it is a partnership between the pubs and their customers. You can easily spend your entire day at hopping from pub to pub while enjoying their breakfasts, ciders, hamburgers, fish & chips, lagers and so on. Dirty Dicks is perhaps the City’s most renowned pub, every day countless employees of the surrounding multinationals spend their evening drinking lagers there. This friendly ambiance emphasizes the ambiguous character of London: a historic city center with tons of pubs and bars with glazy skyscrapers towering above their heads, an exciting combination of old and new. One would not say these social and friendly people are bankers that lost their appetite for morality.

During the FIFA World Cup pubs were one of the best places to meet fellow Dutch, as every pub chose a country to support. The Hems is like a little Dutch enclave, being an official ‘Dutch-pub’ this was the only place in London offering bitterballen and kroketten.The entire street and square in front of it were decorated with orange flags, vanes and balloons – a typical street in the Schilderswijk, Den Haag would have had less decoration during the world cup.

An important lesson I have learned is the differing work ethics and culture. The director is the actual boss, dictating tasks and activities with an over-friendly ‘could you very possibly do this for me?’ There is no horizontal organisation in British enterprises, whenever the boss ‘asks’ you to do something this is top-priority.

Also, studying abroad improved my English. My internship taught me these skills that I still use today – in my opinion an invaluable addition to every student’s study. Getting to know foreign cultures and traditions is an opportunity for personal development. Notwithstanding, it is the thrill of immersing yourself in an unknown environment that excites me most.

Fabian Marchand

Fabian Marchand Fabian is Chairman of the BOSS board ‘14/’15. He also just started his graduation at the Delft University of Technology.

His thesis is on crowdfunding in the Real Estate investment market.

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Real Estate Career Day 2015

The opening of the Real Estate Career Day

Sarah Heemskerk

The 22nd of April 2015 the faculty of Architecture turned orange again, which can only mean one thing: time for the Real Estate Career Day. At this day almost 250 students were present who were able to get in contact with 28 real estate companies. The theme of the day this year was ‘Transition’. There have been a lot of changes in the real estate sector in the last couple of years, which makes the transition within the real estate market an interesting theme for such a big event.

The day started with a warm welcome with tea and coffee, while all students could pick up their personal goodie bags. After a short introduction by Cherryl Djoegan, chairwoman of the RECD committee, the official opening was done by Neil Slob and Saman Mohammadi.

These two directors of ‘re-born bv’ told an interesting story about circular economy, which gave an innovative view on the real estate market.

After this, it was time for the first round of business cases. I was assigned to do the business case with the company Deloitte. They prepared a very interesting role-play, in which the students played the role of the advisor of an investor/developer. In negotiation with the municipality and a housing association, the fair prices for plots of land had to be decided. It was a very instructive case that showed what type of projects Deloitte works on.

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After the first round of business cases, all students and representatives of the companies gathered in the orange hall for a delicious lunch. The contact between students and companies continued in a more informal way. A second round of business cases, for which I was assigned to the company KPMG, followed this up. It was a case about a housing association that wanted to divest a part of their real estate portfolio.

The students were split up in three groups, to provide advice to the housing association on three different levels. I worked on the financial aspect and with my group I made the calculations to show how much the association could save. The case showed how KPMG, which is not often associated with the real estate sector can still be an interesting company for students with our background.

The next activity on the program was a workshop. I followed a workshop, given by Alexandra den Heijer about the differences between men and women in the business environment. A variety of tests showed us what type of brain we have, which can explain the way we work in groups.

It was a very fun and interactive way to have the discussion about this ethical subject.

Sarah Heemskerk Sarah is a masters student at Delft University of Technology. She is pursuing a duo programme, Real Estate and Housing as well as Building Technology. On top of this, Sarah finds time to play hockey and is part of the Delft students Hockey club. Her team recently won the championship.

The end of the afternoon was reserved for the companies market, where students could get in contact with all attending companies while enjoying some drinks in the orange hall. In the mean time some students were invited to have one-on-one conversations with companies to talk about internships or starters jobs.

The day ended with a delightful dinner at cafe Vlaanderen, in the city centre of Delft. The representatives of companies and a selected group of students got one more chance to speak with each other and of course to discuss their experiences of the whole day. From my viewpoint it was a great day of which the organization went very smoothly. I would advise everyone to be there next year!

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