IMAGINE living in a neighbourhood that generates its own electricity, where public areas have 24-hour camera surveillance and residents are encouraged to get around by electric car-sharing services provided by the township.

WHAT do hospitals of the future look like? Drawing from his experience of designing the award-winning Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun, Singapore, Jerry Ong, senior vice-president of architecture of the healthcare division at Singapore-based CPG Consultants, envisions hospitals as “centres of wellness for everyone” instead of “repair shops to treat sick patients”.

TECHNOLOGY, low birth rates and an aging population are among the trends that will disrupt or affect the property development industry in the future, according to Varangkana Artkarasatapon, vice-president of business development and new business (high-rise) of Sansiri Public Company Ltd (Thailand) — one of Thailand’s most prominent luxury property developers.

TA Global Bhd, as its name suggests, has a global presence as a property developer with projects in various countries including Malaysia, Australia and Canada. In Australia, it recently completed and handed over Solis, the first building at its Little Bay Cove Master Plan Development in Sydney. It will soon begin construction on Illume which is about 80% sold. In Canada, it is in the process of completing Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver, a mixed-use project with 217 condominium units and a 147-key hotel.

WHEN thinking about architectural design and ecosystems of the future, Japanese architect Paul Tange and his colleagues at Tange Associates constantly challenge themselves with this question —“How do we create a comfortable environment for people?”

The first question posed for the on-the-spot voting activity was “Do you think millennials will want to buy or rent?”. The results were that some 53% thought that millennials would rather rent than buy or own their own homes while 47% said Gen-Ys will continue to buy their own homes in the future.

TECHNOLOGY may change the way we work and communicate, but human beings still want that personal touch that only another fellow human being can give. Hence, the ideal city of the future would be an intelligent one that makes life easy yet allows people to step out of their homes to have real connection with other people, said the experts that shared their views at the Future Forward Forum on Sept 29, 2016. The event entitled #Trending: Developing Tomorrow was organised by Rehda Youth (the youth section of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia) in partnership with Nippon Paint Malaysia.

SIGNS of globalisation are everywhere — from the cars we drive to the shared experience of hunting for virtual monsters on Pokemon Go.

THE Penang Cultural & Heritage Tour, which took place in July, was organised by the youth chapter of the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda Youth). The sunny weather during the two-day tour was a welcome respite from the heavy rain of the previous days.

THE success of architectural works lies not by following trends but in focusing on the welfare of society.