Derrington: “Developers are demonised”

“Communities are protesting, governments are pressured, funders are skittish and developers are demonised,” says Dr. Patrice Derrington, who leads the prestigious real estate programme at Columbia University.

Derrington believes the high-stakes, fraught environment of urban placemaking needs a rethink – and at The Developer’s Festival of Place she exploded some common myths and encouraged the audience to interrogate the way we develop cities.

“The process by which the private sector delivers much of the urban built environment is struggling to optimise the outcomes for all concerned,” says Derrington.

“Urban development globally is facing a crisis in terms of the process by which private developers are expected to deliver much of the built form of growing cities.

“The structure of community engagement and the alienation of funding are two of the many flaws in the mode of production, but there are more. Property professionals need to understand the full spectrum of issues.”

Derrington, who consults on the funding and delivery of urban projects worldwide, says she wanted to challenge attendees to the Festival to “identify the most critical flaws and formulate ways in which this production process can better build our cities of the future.