As Shakespeare said, “What is a city but the people?”
As investors and lenders become increasingly keen to scrutinize the environmental and social impact of the companies and initiatives they fund, local governments and public bodies are partnering with private sector organizations to deliver schemes that deliver community benefits alongside economic growth.
Avison Young’s Director of Social Value Dr. Eime Tobari has always been interested in how the built environment affects the way we feel and behave.
“The way the built environment affects our life is so fundamental and intrinsic. That’s why we’re focused on how good buildings and places are designed, and how good landlord-tenant relationships operate,” Eime explains.
Social value, while difficult to define, generally refers to work or efforts that actively support the greater good of a community. Social value can be created in a variety of ways, such as supporting local businesses, providing training opportunities, protecting the environment, or increasing access to critical social good services like education or healthcare. All help address the broader challenges that our society faces including socio-economic inequality, health and wellbeing, social cohesion, diversity and inclusion.
As social value becomes mainstream, Avison Young’s clients are increasingly curious about measurement, how to capture return on investment and accountability.
“Alongside the active projects we’re working on with our clients, we’ve developed an impact framework that defines eight key themes – we use this as a compass to define the areas that we can influence. We can then set objectives, KPIs and metrics to reflect local needs, vision and resources,” says Eime.
The social value of buildings and places can be measured as alignment with local needs, not as an absolute value. Drivers to create social value will be different between various actors (e.g., public sector, developers, investors, the broader community, etc.), but a shared value approach enables them to work together to co-create a vision and find solutions that could benefit all stakeholders.
One notable project that the Avison Young team is engaged in is Paradise Birmingham, which is widely regarded as one of the best office-led regeneration sites in any regional U.K. city.
“Social value is contextual, and a constantly moving target. Engagement across a wide range of stakeholders is integral in delivering any kind of social value project or initiative,” Eime explains.
“And not all challenges can be solved like a math or engineering problem. We need to accept that there are a wide variety of complex challenges that we can only address by listening to each other, being curious, being creative and working together,” she adds.
The real estate industry has a real opportunity and responsibility to focus on meaningful change; to create sustainable, fair and healthy cities, places and buildings that support our social, economic and environmental wellbeing. While at surface level the benefits of social value may seem intangible compared with the traditional financial performance metrics, growing evidence suggests that they are material and affect long-term financial performance. Ultimately real estate has little value in an unhealthy economy and society.
Eime’s final advice for introducing a social value mindset: “Think about how your activity affects others, who will be affected and what changes can you make to influence a positive outcome for those groups. This really isn’t anything technical. You can be as much of an expert as you want to be, based on how much you care.”
