Season's Greetings

Dec 26, 2018 Latest News

Dear FIABCI Community:

As 2018 winds down, I’m mindful of our accomplishments in recent months, including the excellent Global Business Summit in Bali, hosted by FIABCI-Indonesia. It was great to see so many FIABCI colleagues and friends and to reflect on our growth and achievements during the past six months. Among these is our work related to urban sustainability.

FIABCI has long engaged with the public sector for the good of our communities and our industry. This includes our alliance with UN-Habitat. In May 2017, FIABCI signed an MoU, creating a framework of cooperation to promote innovative approaches to city monitoring and analysis through the City Prosperity Initiative (CPI). The CPI is a tool that helps municipal authorities identify opportunities for their city to become more livable and prosperous — improving the real estate investment climate while supporting urban sustainability.

FIABCI was instrumental in expanding the CPI to include a Perception Index (CPI-PI) — ensuring views of city residents are included in the analysis. This is one example of our organization’s commitment to the New Urban Agenda and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding property development and urban sustainability.

Many of you are familiar with this important initiative. As presented at a packed session in Bali earlier this month, the latest development is the creation of an Urban Monitoring Lab (UML) at the international and national levels to help facilitate, assist and support the implementation of the CPI-PI in urban markets.

Chapter and Principal Member involvement with national UMLs is a critical part of a chain of collaborative efforts in support of a common goal. While the international UML will spread the word and provide resources to assist national UMLs, the work that will deliver the most meaningful and lasting results will happen at the local level.

The main mission of each national UML is to approach and engage local authorities to advocate making an investment in their city that allows people to participate in monitoring urban progress while adhering to the SDGs and New Urban Agenda — all of which can be accomplished with the support of UN-Habitat to implement the City Prosperity Initiative – Perception Index.

If you’re reading this message, you have a role to play. If you’re a Chapter officer, put this initiative on your next meeting agenda. If you’re a FIABCI member, reach out to Chapter leaders to ask about (or offer support for) plans to form a national UML. If you’re a Principal Member representative, start a conversation about partnering with the Chapter on this initiative. It begins with a basic commitment to make urban centers more livable and sustainable and a willingness to find out how to do so. It begins with you.

Chapters ready to take the next step should refer to my letter of October 2 and the Guidelines for the Constitution of a National Urban Monitoring Lab. If you need more information, email fiabcihq@fiabic.org. If you want to discuss the opportunity for your Chapter, contact Enrico Campagnoli (enricocampagnoli@ilsasso.it), president of FIABCI’s International Organizations Committee.

I’m excited to see what comes next. We have the knowledge, resources and support of UN-Habitat to make a big difference in our urban markets. But this is a collaborative effort and you are part of the final, critical link. I ask for your commitment to help make our cities more prosperous and sustainable.

I’m also looking forward to upcoming activities, including our events at MIPIM and the 2019 World Real Estate Congress in Moscow. The past six months have kept me very busy, but each trip and each FIABCI member I meet reminds me of the importance of our mission. I am very pleased with the progress we have made against our goals and I look forward to advancing them further — knowing that together we are building a stronger FIABCI to serve the business interests of our members.

I hope it has been a blessed and joyous holiday season for you and your family and, on behalf of FIABCI International, I wish for all a prosperous 2019!

Assen Makedonov
FIABCI World President 2018-19