Chris Leinberger - Atlanta WalkUps

The building of the built environment (real estate and the infrastructure that supports real estate) is in the middle of a structural change, only comparable to the change that took place two generations ago following World War II.

The structural change that occurred in the mid-20th century converted real estate development into a modular, formula-driven industry, based upon access by and parking of automobiles and trucks. I refer to it as "drivable sub-urbanism". The real estate industry responded to the market demand of the day and the results yielded many benefits in the industrial economy. Yet we now know that it actually narrowed consumer options, consumed land at 6-8 times population growth and produced "could be anywhere" places, based upon the "19 standard product types". These drivable sub-urban formulas have been re-enforced by real estate finance, which has turned what for thousands of years was a 40-year asset class into a product with a 7-10 year life.