At the 2017 ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles, panelists introduced several new concepts and projects for master-planned communities, including updated marketing strategy, virtual reality, and driverless, flying vehicles.
The panel of developers and marketers stressed the viability of previously underutilized, or dismissed options that are now being supported by current data. Moderator and RCLCO CEO Gadi Kaufmann posited that single-family rental product types are on the way for MPCs, as the data shows a greater segment of the population is looking to rent a home rather than buy one, UrbanLand reports.
[Laura] Cole said that while she was initially a skeptic of [Virtual Reality's] utility, the quality of the technology has increased dramatically so that it has “crossed the line into being an indispensable tool for the development community.” For example, she said that VR gaming technology can already be used to model different scenarios of a development for municipal planning departments or companies, showing, for example, how traffic changes occur as densities go up or down. “It’s helping you make better decisions without making mistakes,” she said.
