Online tools and apps have made it easier than ever for people to find, finance, and purchase property. New construction methods and materials are making it possible to build homes and office buildings that are more energy-efficient and sustainable.
In addition to online tools, the real estate industry is also using drones to inspect properties and 3D printing to create models of potential investments, and increasingly to construct new buildings making them affordable and with improved efficiency. Another technology is blockchain, which can provide a secure and transparent way to record transactions. This could revolutionize the real estate industry by making it easier to track ownership, reduce fraud and make investing in real estate more accessible to the masses via tokenisation.
The internet of things, allied to data processing means that entire cities can become adaptive thereby seeking optimal conditions in relation to the coordination of people, nature, and assets.
Autonomous vehicles are poised to change the way we think about transportation. This could have a major impact on urban planning, as there would be less need for parking spaces and roads, indeed cities could almost totally change their layouts including making additional space available for nature, and for the production of food within urban areas.
These proven technologies have the potential to radically change the landscape of real estate investment, making it an exciting time to be involved in the industry.
But what about the more extreme emerging technologies, those that would completely transform whole industries and likely, society too, including artificial general intelligence, quantum & hybrid super computers, radically advanced healthcare, superconducting materials, robotics, space technologies, and even synthetic biology?
The term ‘synthetic biology’ generally refers to the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, as well as the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes. As such, synthetic biology of buildings represents an emerging field at the intersection of architecture, engineering, and the life sciences. Researchers in synthetic biology are working to develop new methods for creating building materials from living organisms or from synthetic versions of natural biomaterials.
These efforts hold promise for the development of environmentally friendly, sustainable building materials that are renewable and easily produced on demand. In addition, synthetic biology offers a new toolkit for designing custom-built organisms that can perform specific tasks or functions within a building environment, such as producing energy or cleaning up pollution. As the synthetic biology of buildings continues to evolve, it is likely to have a transformative impact on the way we design and construct our built environments.
Supercomputers are the most powerful computers in the world, capable of processing vast amounts of data at super-fast speeds. They are used for a range of tasks including weather forecasting, climate research and financial modelling. In recent years, supercomputers have also been used to design new buildings and infrastructure.
By running simulations of how a building will respond to different loads and stresses, engineers can design structures that are not only stronger and more durable, but also more efficient in terms of material usage. This is a particularly important consideration in the age of climate change, as we strive to create buildings that have a minimal impact on the environment. Thanks to supercomputers, we are now able to create more sustainable, efficient and resilient real estate that can better withstand the challenges of the future.
There is no doubt that artificial general intelligence will change the landscape of buildings and construction as we know it. With the ability to learn, innovate and solve problems with limited human intervention, artificial general intelligence will usher in a new era of intelligent machines that can ‘think’ for themselves. This will have a major impact on the way we design and build structures, as well as how we maintain them. In the future, artificial general intelligence may be used to create self-healing buildings that can repair themselves after damage, and to develop far more efficient construction methods to minimize waste and maximize resources. The possibilities are profound, and the potential for artificial general intelligence to transform the built environment is truly exciting.
Superconducting materials are those that can conduct electricity with extremely low resistance. This means that they can carry large amounts of current without losing energy to heat. Superconducting materials have a range of applications, from generating power such as magnetic confinement fusion, to levitating trains by making use of the ultra-powerful magnets made possible by superconductivity.
As the world continues to grapple with the effects of climate change, ever more attention is being paid to the role of real estate in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. While it is true that buildings are responsible for a significant portion of global emissions, it is important to remember that they are also a key to reducing emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change.
By increasing energy efficiency, using renewable energy sources, and incorporating green building practices, we can make a significant dent in emissions from buildings. In addition, by retrofitting existing buildings, we can make an even bigger impact. With so much at stake, it is clear that the construction and real estate investment industries must play a central role in any climate change mitigation strategy.
Real estate robotics is the application of robotics technology to the real estate industry. There are several types of robotics used in real estate including the production of manufacturing components, onsite construction (for example in lieu of traditional construction workers), aerial robots and ground robots; aerial robots are used for tasks such as surveying, inspecting, and photographing properties, and ground robots are typically used for tasks such as maintenance and security. Robotics technology will certainly improve efficiency throughout construction and property generally and can also help to improve safety in the workplace by reducing the need for employees to perform dangerous tasks, indeed robotics may make it possible to develop buildings that would not be feasible without them.
Outer space has long been a place of mystery and speculation. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly accessible, thanks to the development of private space flight. This has sparked a new interest in orbital and outer space real estate. While the Moon and Mars have been the most popular destination for would-be outer space property owners, there are also a number of asteroids and other heavenly bodies that are up for sale. The Moon, Mars, and many asteroids will become human domains by 2100.
With all this potential aggregated into future scenarios, the future of real estate across and indeed beyond the globe will look increasingly different from the buildings we live and work in today.
Personally, I’m still hoping to ‘convince’ trees to grow in the shape of a medieval English house, perhaps that’s the ultimate sustainable home - but this could only successfully occur by applying synthetic biology.
What do you think? Will real estate develop slowly through incremental change, or will it have a 'big bang' caused by these powerful new technologies? What do you think the average city dwelling could, or indeed should look like in 2050, and what do we do about that today?
Mike E. Halsall, September 2022
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