Buildings and Cities Innovation in the spotlight at MIPIM 2014

The Marché International des Professionels d’Immobilier (MIPIM) takes place in Cannes every year. The global event attracts cities from across the world as well as property developers, investors and international financiers.

Marché International des Professionels d’Immobilier (MIPIM), the world’s property market event, brings together the most influential players from all international property sectors – office, residential, retail, healthcare, logistics and industrial.

MIPIM 2014 will shine the spotlight on the increasing interest from real estate specialists and urban developers in 'smart' buildings and cities.

The 25th edition of the world's leading international property market event will include a presentation from the European Commission on financing plans to support the development of smart cities.

Organised by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Reed Exhibitions, the 25th edition of MIPIM will be held in Cannes from 11 to 14 March.

From the exhibition area to the MIPIM Innovation Forum, by way of the conference programme, the new technologies that are designed to support sustainable property will be represented throughout MIPIM 2014.

An increasing number of cities exhibiting at MIPIM are striving for innovation. For the past three years, Coventry has been testing out City Lab Coventry - a laboratory designed to transform the city of 350,000 inhabitants into a zero-carbon zone by 2020. "Coventry City Council and Coventry University together own a large proportion of the land within the city centre and that allows us to use it as a real-life experimentation environment where users and producers can co-create and test innovations," explained Martin Yardley, Director of City Services and Development on the Coventry City Council.

The city of Derby, which will also be present in the exhibition hall, has begun an extensive urban regeneration scheme by creating the Global Technology Campus, located next to Rolls Royce's head office, and by planning the construction of 300 homes on the site of an old hospital.

Barcelona, in partnership with another MIPIM exhibitor GDF Suez, has developed a smart urban platform enabling the collection, analysis and optimised use of data in an effort to better manage the city's territorial policy.

The city of Turin is also currently transforming its Spina 2 business district through the construction of the Intesa Sanpaolo Tower. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the building's design and completion meet strict requirements both in terms of construction and environmental standards.

Following its successful launch last year, the MIPIM Innovation Forum will be highlighting the emergence of new stakeholders who are experts in innovative solutions for the property sector. This concept, which includes an exhibition and conference area, will facilitate discussions between all professionals sharing the common aim of building a sustainable, cost-efficient city.

New requirements from users and investors, combined with regulatory obligations, are encouraging professionals in the property sector to build increasingly innovative, efficient infrastructures. The European Commission has set aside a budget of €92 million to support the development of smart cities and neighbourhoods. The Commission will present the financing plan to participants at MIPIM. Furthermore, in an effort to meet this growing need for innovative technologies, major international players like Cisco, Philips, the BREEAM label, BASF, Schneider Electric, Somfy, Daikin, Taliance and Manhattan Software will be explaining, within the context of the MIPIM Innovation Forum programme, how their skills can be put to use in the property sector.

The MIPIM conference programme will also offer an opportunity to find out about the latest architectural designs and innovation. Designed to produce more energy than they consume, positive-energy buildings are shaping the 21st-century property sector. A conference titled "Getting to zero today: how zero net energy buildings will define the next decade of development," will address this issue by stressing the added value and the profitability of these buildings.

From now on, these buildings will be designed to evolve based on their users and their urban environment. At the forefront of harmonising this ecosystem, architects are increasingly focusing on mobility and flexibility. Winy Maas, Dominique Perrault, Kynne Frandsen and Auguste van Oppen will be addressing this topic at a Masterminds discussion devoted to architecture, on Thursday 13 March. Flexibility has also taken on an increasingly important role in office layout, both for the owners and the businesses using them. Three sessions will be held on the development of workspaces in the years ahead:

-'Workspace in transformation: which face of tomorrow's office' (Wednesday 12 March)
-'Functional diversity: shared buildings and spaces' (Thursday 13 March)
-'Workplace & space management: paying strategies' (Thursday 13 March).

To view the MIPIM conference programme, click here.