The European Union: Real Estate and Demography

25 May 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Editorial, EU blog post series, European Union, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  467 minutes

(Latest update: 22 August 2022) First, there is not THE real estate market – not national and certainly not international. In fact, the market situation is very fragmented due to the general conditions, in other words, many individual markets, collectively referred to as “the market”. Metropolitan Area A faces different challenges than Metropolitan Area B and Metropolitan Area C can not even understand what A and B are talking about. Where there is comparability, is the housing situation in the “affordable segment” in urban centers in all western EU states, the US and Canada. This is where the call for the state, which should intervene regulatively, quickly becomes louder. In free market economies, however, this is on the one hand not wanted and therefore on the other hand, only limited possible. That’s pretty okay, because the market is inherently profit-oriented and that’s just what it will stay, otherwise investment incentives for new construction would sooner or later be completely absent. The “rental price brake” (Mietpreisbremse) exemplifies the problem. At the same time, more and more social housing is being let out of the rental price brake without replacement investment being made. In the following, single aspects are examined in more detail using the example of Germany, whereby the scenarios also apply to other western countries such as the EU states, the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, but also, e.g., to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul in South Korea, Tel Aviv in Israel and other emerging metropolitan regions around the world.   read more…

Theme Week Singapore – Singapore River, where it all began

30 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture Reading Time:  8 minutes

Singapore River, where it all began © flickr.com - William Cho./cc-by-sa-2.0

Singapore River, where it all began © flickr.com – William Cho./cc-by-sa-2.0

The Singapore River is a river in Singapore that flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, although the northernmost part of the watershed becomes River Valley. As the Central Area is treated as a central business district, nearly all land surrounding it is commercial. It is one of about 40 rivers in Singapore and its islands.   read more…

Theme Week Singapore – Gardens by the Bay

1 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

Supertree Grove © flickr.com - Shiny Things/cc-by-2.0

Supertree Grove © flickr.com – Shiny Things/cc-by-2.0

Gardens by the Bay is a park spanning 101 hectares (1,010,000 m2) of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden. Gardens by the Bay is an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a “Garden City” to a “City in a Garden”. The stated aim is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.   read more…

Theme Week Singapore, the lion city

19 December 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  7 minutes

Singapore by night © LordHorst

Singapore by night © LordHorst

Singapore is a southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia‘s Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. The country is highly urbanised with very little primary rainforest remaining, although more land is being created for development through land reclamation.   read more…

The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore

18 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  7 minutes

Marina Bay Sands in the evening © Someformofhuman

Marina Bay Sands in the evening © Someformofhuman

Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at 8 billion Singapore Dollars (around 4,6 billion Euro), including cost of the prime land.   read more…

Country overview

9 November 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

In addition to the regular search function, a country overview is available here. Click on the country name to see all currently available blog entries.   read more…

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