On the issue of revitalization of urban real estate in the post-COVID world

Abstract

The structural labor market crisis, being one of the main consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused a significant correction in the real estate sector. Given its well-known features, state support measures are aimed at preventing stagnation in the real estate development. The loss of investment attractiveness by infrastructure-focused projects not only hinders the market recovery, but also deprives the economy of a promising advantage due to less intensive investment activities, reducing the number of new well-paid high-tech jobs associated with the operation of commissioned construction projects.

The pandemic adjusted urban planning plans that now take account of the suburban migration of the working urban population. The study allowed to systematize the factors influencing the business activity in suburban construction. State support measures are crucial there; they range from the project funding for low-rise buildings to the expansion of mortgage programs that support the demand for realty developed outside of urban areas.

A decline in the population density in the historic centres of cities also requires a new wave of occupancy, that ranges urban residents by the income, marital status, professional structure, forms and types of employment, etc.

Having studied real estate restructuring trends, shaped by the national development priorities in the context of the coronavirus crisis, the author added new urban space vitalization requirements, taking into account the synchronization of settlement “counter waves”, new housing elevators, the technological renewal, etc., that will bring in new resources, among which human capital becomes a development trigger.