LOVE YOUR CITY: 6 X 6

Little about Hong Kong The city was a British colony from 1842 to 1997. The National Geographic described Hong Kong's history as "one of rapid growth, political turmoil, and continual demands for change." Hong Kong has returned to China on 1st July 1997 under the under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle. The Urban Landscape Hong Kong covers Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories, including 262 outlying islands. Hong Kong’s terrain is mostly hilly and has steep slopes. Also, about 40 percent of Hong Kong’s land is designated as Country Park to provide habitats for biological species. Due to these reasons, the actual amount of developable flat land in Hong Kong is very limited, making its population density the fourth greatest in the world. The Population and Language Hong Kong is famous for international trade and financial investment. Because of this, the city is very urbanized. It has more than seven million residents in a little more than 400 square miles, and…

Lagos| The most populated city in the world and one of the world’s largest cities. Located on the Western Coast of Nigeria, there are over 21 million residents living in a 356 861 hectare area. Everyone seems to be going somewhere fast, always on the move, always on the go. The city is characterized by a motivated atmosphere. Lagos was founded by the Awori, who are a tribe of the Yoruba people, in the 13th century. The city has been Nigeria's premier city since at least 1861. Lagos was part of the United Kingdom’s West African Settlements from 1866 to 1874. In 1914, Lagos was named Nigeria's political capital, retaining that status until 1991 when Abuja formally became Nigeria's new federal capital territory. Lagos prides itself as a megacity. The real estate market is continually on the rise in the city. Estimates show that Lagos grows 2-3% each year, which equates to more than 630 000 new residents every year in numbers. The city is bounded by the state of Ogun to the north and east, by the Bight of Benin…

Welcome to Love Your City, where we focus on the relationship between real estate or property, depending how you refer to it, technology & people. The 2020 series starts off with a 10-part series that will look at cities: to better understand the LIVE| WORK| PLAY model, with the continuous evolution in residential, commercial, retail and industrial real estate/ property. Especially when we look at the urbanization that will be central to cities well into the future! When you think of a smart city, you think of a place that allows you to live, work & play in a modern scenario. This means a seamless integration, between real estate/ property (from residential to commercial), continuous evolution in terms of the tech. applications that complement these assets, to improve the lives of the citizens (as well visitors) to these cities. With that said, we look at Singapore to understand what sets it apart from all the other cities in the world. Its recent title as the smartest city in the world comes after a survey…

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

The story of Airbnb is one that has become the cornerstone of proptech, for a company that initially wanted to be an air mattress rental company and has evolved to become one of the most successful digital companies ever. Now a US $ 42 billion startup and on the verge of an IPO scheduled for 2020, they have recently signed a worldwide deal to back the next 5 Olympics! This will cover events in Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles. The deal is estimated at $500 M in cash and services, will cut costs for the cities that will be hosts and minimize the need to build hotels. These are the views expressed by the International Olympic Committee to the deal structure. The deal though sees Airbnb entering Paris, LA and Tokyo as cities that have tightened short-term leasing rules recently. Past research done has shown that companies that announce their involvement with World Cups and Olympics have a positive effect on the company’s share price. So with the upcoming IPO this deal will this show a sign of…

WeWork moved from the IPO hype which it withdrew from, replacing its founder Neumann as its CEO, taking a $5 billion bailout from SoftBank to last week telling its investors that it lost US $ 1.25 B in the 3rd quarter, on a revenue of $ 934 M. This loss is up 150% from a year ago which was a loss of US $497 M. Talk about a company that doesn’t lack drama! The company accounts for 69% of co-working space in the US. Occupancy decreased by 79% as the company added a record 115 000 desks. The solution under the Softbank leadership seems to be focused on larger enterprise customers. It seems the company will overlook rapid growth for sustainable business practices. It will also be interesting to see who will lead the company forward from the range of candidates that they currently chatting to. Talking about smart cities. Google has announced the launch of its Google Station in Cape Town, South, Africa. This is an initiative that will see residents in several areas including Elsies River, Delft and Khayelitsha get…

The relationship between technology and property was inevitable to happen when you consider that it is the largest commodity in the world, which has a valuation of over US $ 200 trillion. And to think that it’s only at the beginning of its relationship is almost puzzling when many industries have stayed current with tech trends. The entire industry has been slow to implement applications to transform into being efficient. One application that has become popular among businesses and consumers is virtual reality. These are 360-degree videos that offer clients 3D virtual property tours from their device. It’s still in its early stages so it’s gonna be one area that we’ll keep an eye on in the next couple of years in terms of the innovation & its impact on the industry. The technology is definitely out there. Technology like machine learning and artificial intelligence make personalization on websites, emails and even videos possible. Brands need to move from selling to serving, to create unique and interactive…

5. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Dar es Salaam has over six million inhabitants and is the largest city in East Africa. It is an important economic and trade center for the region. New settlements are growing mainly along the business districts. From 2000 to 2018, the population grew by 166%. Tanzania is famous for Kilimanjaro (the largest mountain in Africa - obvious) and the national park Serengeti. More than 80% of the country’s wealth is concentrated in the city by means of wholesale and retail trade, business activities, financial services and manufacturing activities. The Dar es Salaam property market is booming. The boom is partly driven by growth in agriculture and manufacturing, especially the discovery of oil and gas.

4. Luanda, Angola No African city is growing faster than Angola's capital, Luanda. According to United Nations data, more than 7.7 million people live there. The average age of Luandans is 20.6 years. The capital is one of the most expensive cities in the world. This is a seaport city, which is the 5th largest city in Africa, covers a total metropolitan area of over 900 square miles (2,400 square km) . Luanda was an important African hub location for Portugal throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. It gained its independence from Portugal in 1975.

3. Kinshasa The third largest city in Africa is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it’s Kinshasa which has more than 13,3 million people. Kinshasa, once known as Léopoldville, is located right across the river from another capital city: Brazzaville, which is the capital of the Republic of the Congo. This makes Kinshasa and Brazzaville the second-closest couple of capital cities in the world. Kinshasa is the world's biggest French-speaking urban area, larger than Paris, and is a key educational, political, cultural, and industrial center for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This city was founded back in 1881.

2. Cairo Egypt’s capital is primarily famous for its ancient pyramids, but it’s also one of the megacities with more than 20 million residents. The Area surrounding Cairo has been inhabited since pre-historic times, and this is also where the economic hub is in the country. It's the second largest city on the continent and is the largest city in the entire Middle East region. Known as 'The City of a Thousand Minarets', Cairo is regarded as a key cultural, historic, tourism, and religious location. It is best-known for its associations with Ancient Egypt due to the fact that the world-famous Pyramids of Giza and other iconic historical monuments can be found around the city, which. Due to its history and landmarks, Cairo is a hugely popular tourism location and one of the most-visited cities in Africa.

Talking about cities we wanted to chat about the 6 fastest growing cities in Africa. Can you guess this cities? 1. Lagos Lagos is the most populous city in the world and one of the world’s largest cities with 21 million inhabitants. Nowadays, it’s also one of the cities that expands the most and there is an economic revolution currently happening. Estimates show that Lagos grows 2-3% each year, which in numbers will be upwards to 630 000 new residents a year. Lagos is home to one of the busiest seaports in all of Africa and was founded as a port city, being built on a series of islands around the Lagos Lagoon. Some of the top things to do in Lagos include visiting beaches and resort locations like Tarkwa Bay Beach and enjoying live entertainment at places like Freedom Park, a former prison which has been converted into an entertainment venue.

31 October is World Cities Day – a day chosen as such by the United Nations General Assembly. It’s essentially focused on global urbanization and the international community cooperating on opportunities and addressing challenges related to urbanization. The general theme of World Cities Day is Better City, Better Life. The 2018 Theme was Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities. The thinking around this is in supporting cities to become resilient to: - Absorb the impact of risk - Protect its communities (which are the lives in it) - Limit the damage to public and private assets According to Ban Ki-Moon "Cities are increasingly the home of humanity. They are central to climate action, global prosperity, peace and human rights,". This is based on the resolution that was adopted by the UN General Assembly on the 27th December 2013. According to the UN, inequalities in cities have grown since 1980. The largest cities are also where you often find the greatest differences between people. This day looks at the…

Love Your City is a proptech initiative that celebrates the relationship between PROPERTY, TECH & PEOPLE.

Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent in the world. The ten biggest cities around the world will be entirely located in Asia and Africa, with more than one billion Africans being city dwellers around this time. At least six African cities will have more than ten million people (Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Luanda, Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg ). In a handful of years the number of African people living in cities will rise from 500 million to 1 billion. Double its population from now to 2050, growing from the current 1.2 billion people to around 2.5 (approximately a quarter of the world’s population ). The United Nations advise that by 2100, 5 of the 7 largest cities in the world will be African. Lagos will be the biggest with 88 million inhabitants.