Smart housing in bosom of wild: "New cities" for IT specialists to be built in Kyiv

Author

Lesia Solovchuk

In Kyiv, at the request of IT specialists, developers will now begin to build cities from scratch. The implementation of the "new cities" projects will take 7-10 years.

Unlike 2021, activity in the primary market is already declining this year. According to the group of companies Concept Group, the main buyers of new buildings will be people engaged in the IT industry (40%), middle and senior managers in the retail, logistics, and trading sectors (30%). About 20% of buyers will belong to creative professions: designers, creative directors, marketers, etc.

The chaotic development of Kyiv that has been carried out over the past 20 years is not able to comply with the wishes of new generation buyers who seek to live in a comfortable and at the same time spacious environment. They do not need square meters, it is important for them to find their space for a comfortable life in the city and among the wild.

Demand for eco-districts

In the next decade, one of the key factors in choosing housing in Kyiv will be the environmental component, that is, closeness to natural green spaces.

Since the IT sector representatives will become the basis of demand in the primary real estate market, the developers will build new satellite cities for them, the construction of which will be organically woven into the existing natural space, Mykhailo Pidvysotskyi, founder and managing partner of the of the group of companies Concept group, tells .

"Due to the pandemic, most IT professionals work from home, so they often need additional space to create a home office or will look for a coworking space or an office near their home," the expert assures.

Living near the forests, forest belts, parks, lakes, and rivers, as well as spaces for walking and sports activities will become the buyers’ prevailing need. In the coming years, the demand for greenspace expansion and rich nature will only increase.

What is a "new city": 7 signs

The concept of "new city" refers to the merging of housing with the environment, and not the division of city and nature into two separate clusters. Such projects can be implemented only in large territories with an area of 100 hectares or more.

The main features of the format:

A third or more of the project area will be occupied by "wild", pristine nature.
Housing and infrastructure should be woven into the natural environment, "dissolved" in it.
Self-sufficient infrastructure, where there is everything necessary for a fulfilling life (from household services, shops, schools, kindergartens, and flexible offices to a variety of entertainment, sports, and even fish clubs).
Cutting-edge technologies and equipment that will stimulate the comfort of living (comprehensive use of augmented reality, authentication at the entrance to the "city", digital application that will allow real-time reporting and solving the urgent needs of the residents, household "smart" functions, and own media) .
Using environmentally friendly building materials.
Creating modern autonomous utilities systems, designing and constructing roads and good transport links with the metropolis.
A variety of architectural solutions and types of housing (apartments in low-rise buildings, townhouses, and private houses in different styles).

The planning of "wild" spaces goes hand in hand with the introduction of multimodality (a lifestyle intended for pedestrians and cyclists), water savings (collecting rainwater and condensate for reuse), the use of alternative energy sources and natural eco-materials in construction.

In other words, the priority in developing the cities is the creation of a new environment and the integration of the residents’ needs into the "wild" nature.

"New cities" abroad

World architect bureaus have already begun to implement fundamentally new projects that take into account other trends: the multifunctionality of buildings, eco-construction, and the creation of technological and energy-saving living spaces.

"Here are some telling examples. By 2030, the United States should build a new city according to the principle of "bridge-gardens". In the wild desert on the territory of 60,000 hectares, a completely new city will be built that will be adjusted to the modern needs of the citizens and, according to the plan, will become the most environmentally friendly in the world. At the same time, Egypt plans to build a "new capital" 45 km from Cairo that in the future will be home to more than 6 million people. In such cities, a new "green", ecological environment will be created, organically combining residential and infrastructure buildings," Pidvysotskyi stresses.

The trend related to the fight for climate conservation is already popular in the world. This refers to creating "exemplary" eco-districts in world capitals. In the Netherlands, for example, there are programs to replace artificial turf in front of the houses (cobblestones and asphalt) with grass and vegetation cover. This allows soils to be fed by natural rainfall and prevents flooding.

Also, some European capitals are already actively introducing green roofs and abandoning polluting transport.

"Greening and creating new "oases" is an important component of urban development, an element of adaptation to climate change. Forest zones, new parks, and open reservoirs are being created, the territory is sown to the maximum with grass of different types. The main principle is the creation of new and conditionally "wild" natural environments that should become the key to environmental stability and development," Pidvysotskyi stresses.

New cities: Ukrainian request

Major Ukrainian developers are already determined to create projects ahead of the curve. Because the projects in the "new city" format presuppose a rather long implementation time: from 7 to 10 years.

One of the main trends in the advancement of Ukrainian development will be the transition from small residential complexes, although setting new standards of comfortable life, but partly dissonant with the old principles of the cities, to more global ones that the projects in the "new cities" format can become.

"Now every developer has their own idea of this format and their own financial and technical capabilities for its implementation in their own projects. However, already in 2022-2025, the vast majority of the buyers will be interested in the projects where the infrastructure is created "from scratch" and will be self-sufficient," Pidvysotskyi explains.

According to him, already in the first half of 2022, more than 40% of buyers in the primary market of Kyiv will focus on the cost of housing in the range of $1,200—1,500/m2, 30-35% of demand will fall on objects costing about $1,500/m2, 20% of potential buyers are ready to buy residential property at a price of $1,700—2,000/m2, and about 5-10% of investors will be interested in housing at a price of more than $3,000/m2.

More than 65% of buyers will be interested in purchasing apartments in ergonomic, low-rise buildings constructed using modern technologies with "smart" apartment layout and planning solutions (according to the principle "every square meter should be useful").

Another 20% of buyers, according to the expert, will be interested in housing in the format of townhouses and duplexes, 15% of investors are interested in purchasing estates (private houses) with an area of 150 m2—250 m2 with a land plot of 10-15 hundred square metres. For all groups of the buyers, the infrastructure being created, the available recreation (lakes, meadows, and forests), modern architecture, and the use of innovative technologies in construction will become important.

In 2022-2025, more than 70% of housing buyers in the primary market will be interested in purchasing housing in large-scale housing projects created in the concept of "new cities".

That is why, Pidvysotskyi believes, it will be extremely important for the buyer that new projects are built and equipped with the most modern "stuffing", and these are Big Data, AR, AI, and IoT technologies that will allow fixating and stimulating the comfortable life of the future residents.

"New cities" are, first of all, modern technologies, the "circulatory system" of the living space. New projects will include, for example, the comprehensive use of augmented reality, authentication at the entrance to the "city", a digital application that will allow real-time communication and solution of the urgent needs of the residents, household "smart" functions, own media, etc.," the expert says.

According to him, in order to implement a large project in the "new city" format, the developer should envisage several important things: the creation of modern autonomous utilities systems and good transport links, for example, with Kyiv. In addition, the developers will take part in constructing new roads, the cost of which, together with the utilities systems, can reach 20-25% of the construction cost of such a project.