Top Ph property firms to feature own innovations in global confab

The country’s top property firms will showcase their own innovations in healthy and energy-efficient urban living during the staging of the world real estate congress in Manila in May this year.

Topping the list of congress exhibitors are Megaworld Corporation, Federal Land Inc., Robinson’s Land Corporation, and Prime Homes Real Estate Development Inc., among many others.

Their exhibits will be viewed by the participants from the Paris-based International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), whose membership covers 100 national associations, 95 academic institutions, 2,300 companies, 40 professions and over a million individual members in five continents spanning 72 countries, including the Philippines.

FIABCI Philippines president Architect Nestor S. Mangio said the Filipino firms would be seen showcasing their unique attributes to a widely cosmopolitan market vis-à-vis a foreign supply and value chain with its own world-class capabilities.

“Together, they constitute a global real estate industry that can and is poised to bring about an urban revolution across the world,” Mangio said in the context of today’s evolving environment such as massive city migration, increased urban density, transport and mobility constraints from ever-growing vehicular volume, water and air pollution, sanitation threats, floods and rising sea levels, earthquakes and structural engineering challenges, climate change and global warming, typhoons and volcanic eruptions, polar shift and changing weather patterns, and spiralling energy and fuel prices, and their impact on food production and the rest of the economy.

“Facing and overcoming all those challenges require no less than a revolutionary approach in urban planning and development involving new technologies, parameters, and both industry and market mindset,” Mangio said of new urban lifestyles that could emanate therefrom.

He said Megaworld, Federal Land, Robinson’s, and Prime Homes were not just building residential and commercial structures.

“They are practically creating new urban lifestyles while optimizing land use, expanding tourism capacity, generating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, promoting commerce, providing comforts and conveniences, and virtually introducing a new way of living altogether,” Mangio said, citing Megaworld’s township as an example.

“On the other hand, Robinson’s is pairing malls and residential condominiums as a lifestyle package and a value proposition rolled into one, while Federal Land is introducing a themed version of mid-rise development around a commercial hub as its centerpiece like the one in Marikina,” Mangio explained.

“Veering a bit from this approach is Larossa of Prime Homes, whose nature-inspired concept is influenced by the century-old trees that serve as its crown jewels so as to create the ambiance of urban paradise right in the heart of the bustling Quezon City.

“Nonetheless, all these property firms (Megaworld, Federal Land, Robinson’s Land, and Prime Homes) are into ecologic, economic and ergonomic urban development where everything is within reach.

“Their projects virtually serve as precursors to the rise of hikable and bikable cities that we have seen emerging in the continents of Europe and the Americas,” Mangio further explained.

The latest trend, though, includes the use of new construction materials like aerated concrete that can float on water and provide significant thermal insulation.  Others feature reinforced joints of beams and columns to create an earthquake-resistant structure by addressing the weakest links.

These and other construction methodologies that combine multi- and trans-disciplinary technologies are expected to be presented by experts at the forthcoming FIABCI World Real Estate Congress slated at the Marriott Hotel in Newport City, Pasay, Metro Manila on May 26-30.

Aptly, the congress theme is “Urban Revolution”, which is about planning how the global cities of the future must take shape in the light of today’s threats and challenges.

        Supporting the congress are the UN-Habitat, Grant Thornton, Reed Midem, and World Urban Campaign as sponsors, with FIABCI-Philippines (fiabci.phil@gmail.com) as the organizer.

        For more information on the 2020 World Congress, visit www.fiabciphilippines.org. Interested attendees may also send an email to fiabci.wrecongress2020@gmail.com or call tel: +632 8633-3856, +632 3456-4511.