People and places

In this the second of our series on data-driven decision making in real estate, we explore the game changing potential of one of the most important sources of data: people.

The most successful developments, be they residential, workplace, retail, or leisure focused, have always been those designed to create solutions focused on the needs, behaviours, and emotions of the people they are intended to serve.

As `adaptability' has become something of a byword in the industry, there is a sharpened focus on understanding the changing needs of people, and the vast increase in volume and variety of consumer data (and ease of accessing it), heralds new opportunities.

"We spend a lot of time designing the bridge, but not enough time thinking about the people who are crossing it." Dr. Prabhjot Singh, Director of Systems Design at the Earth Institute.

Understanding behaviour
Consumer behaviour has long felt like a weak link in the real estate puzzle, as major decisions have traditionally been made using static catchment area models and aging demographic insights.

Anonymised consumer mobility data has rapidly disrupted this staid area, offering detailed insight into the types of people that utilise locations on different days and times of the day, including how often they frequent and dwell in these places. Key providers of geolocation data include Visitor Insights in the UK and Placer in the US, as well as Mapbox across the globe.

At a more granular level, the likes of O2 Motion can use their Smart Cells to provide an unprecedented level of people movement at just 5 metres, through spaces, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This allows micro-analysis of behaviour to measure the impact of changes, analyse competitiveness and predict use within and around spaces, including shopping centres, airports, streets, or other critical assets.

The dynamism of this data is allowing for smarter and faster decisions about the suitability for different locations for different uses and formats, as well as opportunities to invigorate the master planning of entire districts through a clear view of how people interact with spaces.

Furthermore, innovations in the depth and speed of demographic insights are offering new ways to understand the needs of people at the local level. For example, Spatial.ai‘s ‘GeoSocial’ dataset, analyses data from social media conversations across 72 segments, providing trending lifestyle insights into interests as diverse as `natural beauty', `wanderlust', `animal advocates', `wealth signalling', `connected motherhood', and `coffee connoisseurs'.

These new more accurate, timely and deeper, quantitative approaches to understanding people are offering unprecedented opportunities for commercial real estate to truly get to grips with the human implications of their developments and projects.

Developing empathy
Big data’s benefit is the volume and variety of empirical observations of how people use space, but this does not replace the crucial need to also understand the attitudes and wants of people. Surveys of opinions, preferences, and perspectives of people are nothing new, but technology is making it easier to gather these insights.

Various platforms offer on-demand access to target audiences, allowing commercial real estate organisations to understand how people feel, think, act, buy, and interact with locations and types of spaces.

Traditionally a very expensive form of research, accurate insights can now be gained within hours from diverse and representative audience panels, at modest cost. This is allowing real estate players to develop greater empathy with the potential or actual users of spaces, driving better and more human-centric decisions.  

Making better decisions
Consumer and people insights are critical to informed decision making throughout the real estate lifecycle. It allows organisations to anticipate the implications of market trends, identify investment opportunities, tailor their offer to customers’ demands, and make the right call on adaption or disposal of assets.

From development and planning to marketing and sales, and from property management to investment, people insights are changing the real estate game.

At Pragma we're leading the way in the use of consumer insight. We're helping a wide variety of clients make the most out of people mobility data from single sites to city districts. Our agile approach to consumer surveys is informing client real estate decisions around leisure destinations, retail, and airports. Look out for our soon to be released Global Pulse Survey, which will reveal critical insights into trending attitudes and perspectives on real estate, from people around the world.

James Miller