MAPIC 2022 Takeaways
One of the key factors that I believe makes MAPIC so successful and relevant is its relentlessly forward looking focus. The 2022 event was no exception and the headline banner of ‘People, Planet, Profit’ was absolutely attuned to some of the largest challenges facing the physical retail and leisure markets right now. Disseminating the most important points from MAPIC is always a challenge, as so much relevant material is presented within the three days. I therefore thought it might be helpful to share the key takeaways from the P-THREE team…
One of the recurring phrases at this year’s event was: we are in danger of exceeding (if we haven’t already) our planetary limits. Although cynics might disagree, I think this message is starting to hit home with both investors and occupiers as they consider how profits are made.
Top of the agenda for both occupiers and investors – and here their interests are well and truly aligned – is driving down ever increasing costs (capital and operational) and simultaneously driving up footfall, sales conversion and profit. It is a topic which brings all of this year’s event themes together. The key question is how more people (consumers) can be attracted to/back to individual locations. The recurring solutions are centred on technology, data and diversifying uses.
Until relatively recently that was where the main questions and answers ended. But now we also have to factor in the cost of operations to the planet and how negative impacts (whether they be CO2 emissions, traffic congestion or use of precious raw materials) can be reduced. What is striking is that there is no single easy fix, but a vast array of potential interventions, including energy saving measures, more green spaces, reducing deliveries and reducing embedded carbon in fit outs/re-fits, many of which have been covered by P-THREE Perspectives in the past year or so. Some of the solutions will require regulation and we can expect more emphasis in the future on fit out guides and green leases.
One of the recurring phrases at this year’s event was: we are in danger of exceeding (if we haven’t already) our planetary limits. Although cynics might disagree, I think this message is starting to hit home with both investors and occupiers as they consider how profits are made. Anyone doubting that we are seeing real change might want to consider the research referenced by Andy Watson of the Urban Land Institute that highlights the shift in investment criteria over recent decades from an original focus on location, then to a particular sector and now to the sustainability criteria of an asset. This suggests that in future profits will follow companies and assets which make the greatest contribution to sustainability and enhancing the planet.
While the headline topic rightfully attracted a huge amount of discussion this year, I was pleased to see an ever greater emphasis on the introduction of more leisure, restaurants and other uses into retail-led assets, something P-THREE has been highlighting since our inception. The LeisureUp agenda for MAPIC was packed and innovative. Ingka Centres announced their new food hall concept called Saluhall, a sustainable dining culture hub, inspired by Nordic Cuisine. We can expect to see more innovation in this sector and these venues becoming the big new footfall drivers in the future.
I was also glad to note that MAPIC is subtly, by a process of evolution rather than revolution, moving away from its shopping centre roots. I firmly believe that an increased emphasis on mixed use development and the diversification of retail assets is necessary to keep the event in touch with sectors that are slowly but surely changing. The UK isn’t alone in facing a surfeit of retail space. While online sales are generally lower in continental Europe than in the UK, many countries are witnessing similar structural shifts in their retail markets to those experienced in the UK. More and more discussions are centring on how new development will be less reliant on retail and how retail assets can be diversified away from a reliance on the fashion sector. For this reason, I was delighted that this year’s MAPIC Urban Regeneration Prize winner was the brilliantly conceived Browary Warszawskie in Poland, which P-THREE recently visited (and will be highlighted in a future Perspectives).
The topic of how to build successful communities and places was alive and well in Cannes. This is a theme close to our hearts at P-THREE and forms the backbone of many of our previous Perspectives. To move the discussion on, I suggest there needs to be an increased emphasis in new developments on the ‘micro’ market location as opposed to just the ‘macro’ market, ie ensuring relevance and inclusiveness to those immediately surrounding the new scheme. This is a simple, yet very effective, way of improving a development’s social value. And it is one of several new KPI’s by which development companies will now be judged.
MAPIC remains an important date on our sector’s calendar, that always provides new insights. I and the rest of the P-THREE team look forward to next year’s event and working with renewed vigour within a sector which is focused around increasingly green and resilient retail, restaurant and leisure markets.
Article by Thomas Rose, Co-founder P-THREE
Photo credits: MAPIC
