This article was originally published on Christie’s International Real Estate’s blog Luxury Defined. 

COVID-19 has not only changed the way we live, but looks set to change where we live too. Case in point: online searches for houses in suburban areas rose by 13 percent in May. As Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said in a recent report: “The flight to the suburbs is real.”

It’s a trend that’s particularly visible in a megalopolis like New York City, where, The Wall Street Journal reports, moves to neighboring Connecticut have more than doubled from 2019. “We’re seeing an uptick in sales that we haven’t seen in years, particularly in homes priced at $1.5 million and above,” confirms Karla Murtaugh, Realtor at Neumann Real Estate in Ridgefield. “Many New York City residents who rented properties here during the city’s shutdown in March decided to buy after experiencing the amazing lifestyle, beautiful surroundings, and nationally ranked schools on offer.”

But, while suburban markets are experiencing a boom, many housing economists warn that urban property values could be facing a corresponding long-term decline. So, should we be looking to urban renewal as a way to save our cities?

Homebuyers from New York City are increasingly choosing Connecticut’s greener pastures, with spacious suburban areas attracting particular interest. Image: Getty Images

It can be done if we develop a new paradigm, says Kotkin, presidential fellow in urban futures at California’s Chapman University. “Cities need to compete for their residents on the basis of quality of life. They need to offer better choices and up their game in terms of amenities.”

 

In that respect, Los Angeles—long known as a “city of villages,” comprising many small incorporated towns, with business districts close to adjacent residential streets—has led the way since its inception. Kotkin fondly remembers his years in Studio City, “where everyone worked from home, but there were thousands of businesses and restaurants, and lots of places to meet.”

 

While Phoenix, Arizona, has a bustling downtown core, there are more than a dozen hubs throughout the metro area to ensure that, even on its periphery, inhabitants have access to the same amenities.

The Domino Sugar redevelopment offers residential, retail, and commercial areas alongside recreational space in Domino Park—a six-acre (2.4 ha) green belt designed by the landscape architects behind New York Citys High Line.

 

Kees Kaan, a Dutch architect who has practices in Paris, São Paulo, and Rotterdam, is applying the same principles in his urban dispersal project for the rapidly growing French city of Nantes. His aim: to create a new neighborhood with its own commercial heart. “It has good transport links with the city center, but isn’t suburban at all,” he explains. “It also has all the amenities people need, including its own main street and central boulevard.”

 

The Spot development in Amsterdam will transform a formerly commercial area into “both an intimate inner-city environment and an expanding metropolis, the village and the city in one,” says Kaan.

 

 

Kaan is also transforming an area of southeast Amsterdam, which was once dominated by dreary office buildings. The project, named Spot, will “create an urban village, with areas that are safe to play in and accessible only to cyclists and pedestrians.” Its design will allow for copious green space, and will reconfigure residential and office spaces across several buildings.

 

Renewed Greenery—and Growth
On the need for increased greenery in urban areas, the experts are unanimous—with Berkowitz citing it as “a non-negotiable.” As a result, biophilic design, a movement that aims to bring nature into the home, is rapidly gaining ground. It’s a way to create a green interior, which goes far beyond house plants, says U.K.-based designer Oliver Heath. “Living walls and interior water features enhance a home’s connection to nature,” he explains, “and this is rapidly becoming an essential for homeowners, not just a nice-to-have.” “That kind of access to nature and outdoor spaces is what’s getting us through this crisis,” adds Berkowitz, “and resilience is ultimately about the capacity to withstand whatever the next crisis is.”

 

A living wall—such as this one created by Oliver Heath Design for Re:Mind Studio in London—is a simple way to incorporate biophilic design and has been proven to improve indoor air quality and increase a connection to nature.

Happily, another point the experts agree on is that the city will survive—even if it falls out of fashion temporarily. “It’s been under siege for centuries, with ups and downs, but it’s always regained popularity,” says Kaan. And Berkowitz points out that the arrival of an effective COVID-19 vaccine could create its own shift. “When that happens, more people will once again want to be near to others, in the places that have traditionally been the hubs of innovation, wealth, and creativity—the cities.”