Conference Agenda

Waterfront redevelopment has become an effective catalyst to promote urban renewal and sustainable development. Typically, researchers have investigated this phenomenon from the perspective of the relationship between waterfronts and cities with less attention paid to public subjective well-being. Against this background, employing the customer satisfaction theory, this paper developed a waterfront public satisfaction index model to systematically investigate the crucial determinants and associated consequences of public satisfaction with waterfronts. Through structural equation modeling, an empirical analysis was performed on the questionnaire data of 240 visitors to Xuhui Waterfront in Shanghai, China. The results reveal that service facility and public expectation are the most important factors determining public satisfaction, followed by spatial design and perceived value. However, public expectation does not have a remarkable direct impact on public satisfaction and only indirectly affects public satisfaction through service facility, spatial design, and perceived value. Moreover, it is ascertained that public satisfaction plays a crucial role in affecting public support and complaint towards waterfront redevelopment. These empirical results could provide new insights for city authorities and planners to design effective strategies to improve public satisfaction and promote urban waterfront revitalization.

This paper aims to discuss the growing importance of creating social value when investing in environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives with the real estate industry. It explores this topic through examining best practices in creating sustainable workplaces within Hong Kong. To ensure a holistic discussion, three key areas related to social value are addressed, specifically: A) emerging social priorities, B) social value creation strategies and C) metrics to measure social impact. The paper concludes by sharing a perspective on practical next steps that companies and office building developers should take into consideration, in addition to reinforcing the urgency of diversifying ESG commitments instead of just focusing on environmental impact to create more sustainable workplaces in Hong Kong.

This paper investigates whether ESG reputation concern incentivizes developers to achieve high-quality green building development. Prior studies examining developers’ green building decisions focus on whether developers engage in green building development through the perspective of benefit-cost analysis. Very few studies have examined developers’ decisions in different levels of green buildings. None of the existing studies has empirically tested whether the concern of social capital can motivate developers to be more environmentally responsible.

This study argues that as high-quality green building development can enhance developers’ ESG reputation, this concern drives developers to engage in the development of more costly and efficient green buildings. We test this hypothesis from a sample of green building development in Hong Kong from 2011 to 2022. Developers can choose whether or not to develop acquired land parcels into green buildings and which level of green building (platinum, gold, silver, bronze, or unclassified). A developer’s ESG reputation concern is measured by whether the developer is covered by leading ESG rating agencies, such as MSCI, Refinitive, Sustainalytics, etc. Our findings suggest that the ESG rating coverage significantly increases a developer’s probability to develop high-quality green buildings (e.g., green buildings finally receive platinum or gold certificate). The results remain robust when the propensity score matching approach and the instrumental variable approach are employed to address the endogeneity issues. The effect of ESG reputation concern on green building development is stronger in developers with higher ESG ratings (overall and environmental ratings), more media coverage, and greater institutional ownership. Further analysis suggests that developers’ decision to engage in high-quality green building development driven by ESG reputation concern does not hurt their profitability or market valuation. Taken together, this study provides evidence of the role of ESG in addressing climate change issues.

Abstract:
The co-working industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, necessitating the need for co-working space providers to optimize their operations and deliver value to their clients. The Executive Centre, a prominent player in the industry, recognized the importance of data-driven decision-making to achieve these goals. This paper outlines how Neoma collaborated with The Executive Centre to unlock the value of occupancy data, enabling them to make better-informed decisions when designing their co-working spaces. By collecting accurate usage data through existing digital touch points, implementing an analytics dashboard, and utilizing a cloud-based platform, Neoma enabled The Executive Centre to increase space ROI, reduce operational expenses, redesign spaces for productivity, optimize staff allocation, and enhance energy efficiency. The results achieved demonstrate the value of incorporating data-driven strategies in the co-working industry.

*Hot desks, private offices or meeting rooms? How do you engineer the perfect balance of amenities and spaces to match daily and seasonal trends? For coworking spaces, occupancy insights create an environment for unparalleled service.*

The Challenge:
How can coworking spaces better utilise occupancy data to create frictionless experiences: from personalised service to exceptional staff and amenities, encouraging wellbeing for every member?

The Project:
This cutting-edge coworking space in the heart of the city’s financial district delivers hospitality-driven guest experiences in a sophisticated setting. With 80+ dedicated office spaces, 9 meeting rooms, 50+ hot desks, 3 lounges and breakout areas, they were looking to answer questions most coworking operators grapple with: Which desks are the most popular? Do people prefer to sit at the lounge, bar, or bay window? How are meeting rooms used? Can we allocate staff based on traffic? The challenge was to uncover actual occupancy and behavioural patterns to optimise space use, improve service and return on investment.

What We Did:
*Understand space usage to uncover daily and seasonal trends*

Our solution made the most of existing infrastructure — CCTV cameras at entry/ exits, digital door lock data for private offices, QR codes for member vs guest profiling, booking system data to compare actual usage of meeting rooms vs. bookings. We deployed additional seat sensors in meeting rooms and coworking areas to monitor seat usage, as well as added cameras to analyse the usage of bar and break out areas. This spatial and anonymous behavioural data was then collated and analysed by the Gaia platform. Data on people counts, average daily attendance, weekly attendance, peak hours for entry, meeting room and private office usage helped delineate daily and weekly patterns and identify opportunities to optimise spaces and streamline staff allocation based on actual trends in traffic.

The Impact:
*Minimise operational hurdles and elevate user experiences*

For coworking operators, a deep understanding of members’ daily and seasonal patterns and preferences helps improve the experience and service on offer. Tracking visits helps coworking operators better plan space allocation between private offices, hot desks or conference rooms, and optimise their portfolio across multiple locations. Insights on space usage are also invaluable to companies as they transition to hybrid work models and collaborate with coworking operators for additional managed space. The analytics allow coworking operators to redesign their spaces based on actual data, rather than guesswork, to best meet the needs of their valued members.

Conclusion:
The successful collaboration between Neoma and The Executive Centre highlights the value of occupancy data in the co-working industry. By leveraging existing digital touch points, implementing an analytics dashboard, and utilising a cloud-based platform, The Executive Centre was able to make data-driven decisions that resulted in increased space ROI, reduced operational expenses, redesigned spaces for productivity, intelligent staff allocation, and energy optimisation. By basing their decisions on real numbers rather than anecdotal stories, The Executive Centre was able to optimise their space utilisation, allocate resources effectively, and create environments that fostered productivity and client satisfaction.