Dublin is hosting a conference on Urban Futures next week and this article gives a flavour of what will be on the agenda.
Our development clients are looking at new trends and the challenge of technology redundancy is an ongoing one. What is super cool this year may be completely outdated next. We are advising on asset management issues for shopping centres where new signage plans and technology are posing new and interesting questions. Who gets to use the rolling signs? How are the leases drafted? Have the tenants been given hard commitments on what they can or can't do? Branding, visibility and technology are key considerations now in the fight for customers.
In Dublin we have the opportunity to embrace new development and technology platforms. Our new owners (many of whom have come from abroad) are going to demand new and edgy technological solutions. As advisors we need to make sure our legal documents are drafted with one eye on the future.
All of this technology is already in use in cities around the world and according to Charles Landry, an international authority on urban change, the implications of the digital age for cities will be as dramatic as the shifts brought about by the industrial revolution. Landry is set to be a keynote speaker at a conference entitled 'Urban Futures - cities and towns in transition', which is being organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Academy of Urbanism, and takes place next Thursday and Friday in Dublin Castle.
