Globally, urban sustainability is shifting its focus from individual building to sustainability at precinct, neighbourhood and community levels. This dissertation aims to determine whether the South African urban development industry has a need for the introduction and incorporation of a precinct level urban sustainability rating tool. This dissertation employs a literature review and single case study approach to define precinct level urban sustainability, to explore existing sustainability initiatives and to investigate the expected impacts of a South African precinct level urban sustainability rating tool. The research finds that while there ha been interest in precinct level sustainability from the private sector and some leading municipalities, precinct level sustainability runs the risks of becoming nothing more than a political catch-phrase and of becoming stuck in an ongoing cycle of planning, especially from a national regulatory point of view. It is expected that the introduction of a South African precinct level sustainability rating tool will mitigate this situation by providing motivation for the adoption of, and a clear guideline for the physical implementation of, wider sustainability principles and objectives.

Construction activities have a significantimpact on the community, the economy and the environment and thus a holistic and sustainable approach is required to address the negative impacts. Sustainability is assessed in terms of the triple bottom line, environmental, social, and economic elements. It is argued that the master developer and government agencies set the scene for sustainable construction in the real estate value chain. This research aims to establish the barriers to sustainable construction and the strategies necessary to overcome the barriers to sustainable construction in the real estate value chain from an agricultural land conversion to urban use perspective. A mixed method study was undertaken to examine the knowledge and understanding of agricultural land conversion real estate developers and professionals, as well as end-users, in adopting sustainable construction in real estate development within the context of Durban, South Africa real estate business environment and examines the gap and barriers between knowledge and implementation. A mixed methodology was applied in this study, comprising of 27 questionnaires and 9 interviews with experts in the field of land conversion activities. The sample size was limited, due to the limited number of firms involved in land conversion activities in Durban and was further limited by the number of senior decision makers that responded to the surveys and interviews. The findings highlighted that, due to the limited awareness and training, limited incentives and subsidies and the perceived higher cost of sustainable construction, strategies should be employed to improve the implementation of sustainable construction throughout the real estate value chain at a precinct level.

This research study emphasizes the global responsibility and the importance of employing alternative sources of energy that are climate-friendly. It argues against coal-based energy creation and explains why it is not a long-term sustainable solution to the global energy demand. Many countries have embraced green energy initiatives and are adopting progressive strategies to limit its carbon footprint. The research explores and compares various methods of generating renewable energy and motivates the identification of solar energy as a suitable candidate to contribute on a much larger scale to the energy demand for South Africa and abroad. The paper further researches the history of solar energy, barriers preventing large scale implementation and the solutions to bridge those barriers. The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent technology has developed for small scale property owners to generate its own electricity supply from solar energy resources in South Africa and whether the supply generated would be sufficient to warrant consistent and uninterrupted flow compared to traditional coal-based energy resources. The cost of installation and maintenance of solar PV technology together with its financial return is investigated as well as the possibility to generate excess electricity that can be fed back into the grid. The result of the research sheds light on whether it makes financial sense to small scale building owners or managers to install a rooftop solar PV system to either generate its own stream of electricity supply or to merely supplement the traditional electricity supply from Eskom, the national electricity supplier. The research study chose to analyse a single case study and conducted semi~structured interviews with a number of stakeholders. The case study comprised a solar PV system that has been mounted on a rooftop of a building tenanted by a private school. The financial data from the installation in addition to qualitative data arrived at the conclusion that it is financially viable for building owners or managers to install a suitably sized PV system to supplement traditional electricity supply in existing buildings.

As facilities have to adapt to changing environments along with the increasing awareness with regards to sustainability, Facilities Management (FM) has an important role to play in facilitating the motivation, adoption and implementation of sustainable practices in strategic facilities plans. Green Building Features and Initiatives (GBFIs) impact on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and add significant value to facilities. Whilst FM used to be focused on economic value, it has the potential to impact on numerous stakeholders and add to the social, economic and environmental value of facilities. Hence, the facility manager can generate long-term value to an organisation by developing, applying and maintaining sustainable facility practices. However, little is known about the perceived added social, economic and environmental value of the integration of GBFIs into an FM strategy. This research focuses on four cases within the office property sector in Cape Town and involves a series of interview and surveys to assess the perceived value added by GBFIs on commercial properties. In this research it was found that GBFIs add value to facilities in numerous ways both directly and indirectly. They impact on future proofing, revenue growth, profitability growth, waste management, resource conservation, energy efficiency, reduced carbon footprint, sustainable or reduced travel, workplace attractiveness, staff perceptions, work environment, comfort levels, health and safety. However, all GBFIs do not have the same impact on value and it is important to get the right mix and the right level of implementation to experience holistic value added. It was also found that the accolades, such as a green star rating, which comes from the implementation of GBFIs can lead to further added economic and social value as such ratings impact directly on the perception of the facility. As the performance of GBFIs is directly linked to the operations of the building, it is vital to adopt a pro-active and strategic approach to FM in order to optimise the impact of GBFIs on the value of a facility. The implementation of GBFIs is the first step and to ensure the success of those GBFIs, the FM strategy must provide for the green operations of the facility and must be in line with the vision of the main tenant or owner-occupier. Hence, the tenant also plays a significant role in the value adding process, as they must also be sustainability-driven. The FM team must have different initiatives in place to ensure the proper functioning of the GBFIs and to deal with the people management and change management requirements that usually accompany the implementation of GBFIs.

The built environment contributes 40% to total global greenhouse gas emissions and 87% of the buildings we will have in 2050 are already built (Wilkinson & Remoy, 2015). If predicted climate changes are correct we need to adapt existing stock sustainably. Reuse is an inherently sustainable option, which reduces the amount of waste going to landfill. Inevitably, settlements and areas undergo change, whereby land uses become obsolete and buildings vacant. At this stage, the options are either to demolish or to convert to another use. In central business districts (CBDs) outside of South Africa, there are many examples of office to residential conversion. It is expected that Cape Town CBD will take the learnings from this international market and the adaptive reuse of Cape Town’s existing buildings will be explored in greater depth. Globally there is a movement of people towards centralised living locations due to the increased congestion of transport networks to cities and the need for people to be close to the services that cities offer. This movement will only become exaggerated in time as the urbanisation of Africa continues at an increasing rate. The ability to sustainably reuse existing commercial structures thus becomes a pertinent topic in providing an efficient solution to satisfy the housing demand. Some 9000m2 of office space is currently earmarked for residential conversion in Cape Town as demand for central residential property grows and a low interest rate economic environment creates good financial conditions for developers. Coupled with this, is a stock of ageing offices and a population projected to increase by 15% by 2031 requiring approximately 30,000 new housing options across the Cape metropolitan area. With the low projected economic growth rate of South Africa, the Cape Town office market is expected to remain relatively stagnant in 2017, 2018 and 2019 - so the macro economic conditions for residential conversion are better than ever. Based on the above mentioned, this research aimed at answering the questions: (a) which drivers encourage residential conversions in Cape Town, and, (b) what are the barriers for successful reuse of existing commercial buildings. This research investigated the nature and extent of commercial conversions experienced in other global cities (London, Sydney and New York) so as to establish an understanding of how Cape Town can best adapt, as well as the drivers and barriers to successful conversion of existing structures in a CBD. Through an extensive literature study, the research identifies the key lessons from international residential conversion projects. Subsequently, interviews were held with local property experts in the Cape Town market. This research explored the potential of delivering sustainability to the Cape Town CBD through the reuse of commercial buildings. The mix of these various forms of research allowed key themes to emerge and for these themes to be exploded so as to establish a view on whether conversion projects are here to stay. The research indicates that conversion projects within the CBD area of cities are only going to become more frequent as the financial feasibility of these conversion projects improves. This, together with an ever growing wealth of knowledge amongst developers and investors about conversion projects encourages the provision of significantly more residential units in the central city. This increase in the central city population is expected to have many positive benefits for the city on a social, cultural and economic level. It is for these benefits that Public organisations are now slowly putting their weight behind supporting the adaptation of vacant and problem commercial buildings. This proactive focus on diminishing the number of obsolete buildings in prime locations has becoming a key trait of a successful CBD. This research has therefore highlighted the real role that CBDs should play and how the physical environment that forms the CBD plays such an integral role in the formulating the culture of a city. Cities should be exciting central places where people can interact safely, that supports the sharing of ideas, and nurtures the cultural fabric that gives a city its soul.

This paper looks at the attitudes and approaches of South African property valuers to the valuation of hotels as an asset class. The paper focuses on the impact in a shift towards management agreements in the sector. Management agreements are a relatively new tenure agreement in South Africa's hotel sector, and although these grew in popularity globally in the 1970's and 1980's, the sanctions which prevented multinational companies wanting to do business in South Africa, allowed local hotel groups to grow in the absence of the world's leading lodging companies. South African property valuers were less exposed to the evolving valuation frameworks and best practice approaches, in the absence of these global companies. This study establishes a framework for optimal hotel valuations under a management agreement, with a review of literature discussing the correct approach to valuing a hotel under such an agreement as well as the the current state of the valuation industry in South Africa; as well as areas of weakness that South African valuers have with certain techniques and approaches that are established as important for hotel valuation. The empirical study that was undertaken surveyed members of the South African Institute of Valuers. The findings present the first comprehensive look at valuation of hotels as an asset class in South Africa; and show that almost half of property valuers in South Africa perceive themselves to be competent in valuation hotels under a management agreement whilst perceiving there to not be a significant difference required for the approach to valuing a hotel under a management agreement. The results of a hypothetical case study within the survey presented a divergent view of competency, with low levels of full competency demonstrated. The study brings much needed perspective on the sector at a time where management agreements are becoming more prevalent and investors are looking to valuers for strategic insight and assurance around the asset class.

This research study examines the extent of urban development in Doha in relation to the impact this development poses on Facilities Management (FM). The focus of this study is on the city of Doha, Qatar. Urban growth that is not underpinned by a sustainable development ethos presents unique challenges on social, economic, human and environmental development. Two fundamental drivers of the urban development, namely: the implementation of Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV) and the preparation to host major sports events such as Men's Handball Tournament 2015 and FIFA Football World Cup in 2022 have been investigated. Particular emphasis is to be placed on the government to look beyond ambitions for creating a 'global hub city' and contextualise the position of Qatar in terms of limited population numbers, dependence on a foreign workforce and the hiring of knowledge instead of creating a base. The emergence of FM as an important dimension to sustainable development requires a paradigm shift in encouraging FM involvement in the development process. A case study was undertaken and a thematic analysis was adopted within a non-interventional interpretative paradigm. Field data were collected using semi-structured interviews with respondents being identified through convenience and purposeful sampling considerations. The data show that while the hosting of major sports events presents legacy issues and FM pressures after the events, it is the implementation of the QNV that also provided significant challenges on rapid urban growth, sustainable development and FM. Implications of the findings are that a national development strategy for an emerging economy is required to be underpinned by the application of a holistic and sustainable approach that provides social and economic development to the communities; the formulation of an urban development process that assists in creating a controlled urban growth that can offer a viable creation of social inclusivity needed to achieve sustainable development; and that the low level of FM expertise as a result of the limited number of FM firms and the lack of technology and techniques presents unique FM challenges in Qatar.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether a property investor could diversify their portfolio by investing in the same property class and type throughout three different cities in South Africa. Furthermore, the study aimed to achieve this by providing an in-depth analysis of property cycle activity in South Africa and investigating how different South African cities react to the national property cycle. Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg were chosen, as they are major cities in South Africa. The time frame used is the 2001 to 2009 property cycle with specific reference to office space. The timeframe does not cover the property cycle over an extended period where factors may be different from the ones concerned here. The outcome of the study will help to provide an understanding how the three different cities reacted to the national property cycle using variables such as but limited to gross rentals receivable, total return, income return and vacancies. The results of the study will help in making investment decisions, especially for investors who may want to diversify their portfolios across different cities within the same country. The methodology of this dissertation will be based on a comparative analysis using mainly Investment Property Databank (2013) data subsequent to a literature review. The findings are based on Investment Property Databank (2013) statistical industry performance data. The conclusion will be drawn from the results. The primary motivation for this research stems from investors' need for a greater understanding of diversification within the property cycle to improve investment decisions. The primary objective achieved was to contribute to the understanding of the predictability of the property cycle, which can assist in the decision making of a property investor looking to diversify by location in their property portfolio. Whilst this finding was not the primary objective, this dissertation revealed that there are synchronicities between the Central Business District and decentralised office markets of the three cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

The challenges which entrepreneurs in general face have been well documented over the years, however, challenges specific to real estate entrepreneurs have not adequately been identified. In a developing country like South Africa, the impact of entrepreneurs in the growth of the economy and in its transformation objective, cannot be underestimated. The challenges in the real estate sector in which developers provide affordable housing, are of crucial importance to identify as doing so will promote further development which will aid in reducing the high unemployment and poverty rate. These challenges have not yet been adequately identified. The aim of this research paper is to identify them, to rank them in order of importance and to provide in depth analysis as to how they affect real estate entrepreneurs in completing their developments. The focus will be on small medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) developers as entrepreneurs in an urban context, namely in the Johannesburg central business district. The impact of these developments is higher; thus, the challenges experienced by these developers are of significance. Literature on entrepreneurship was reviewed to ascertain the definition of an entrepreneur, their mindsets and what drives them. This was used to define a real estate entrepreneur which in the context of this research paper is someone who purchases land or buildings to develop them into residential housing for the purpose of a return (both social and economic). In the research methodology a phenomenographic approach was used, appropriate for a qualitative research approach, as it sought to identify challenges through the developers’ experiences. The developers selected, all had prior experience in the field. The researcher interviewed them in person. Their responses were recorded, transcribed and evaluated. Seven challenges in order of importance were identified namely: 1) Apartheid 2) Education, Experience, Competencies and Mentorship 3) Land 4) Municipalities 5) Equity 6) Time Delays 7) Professional Team The legacy of apartheid has a negative effect on the real estate development industry as it is largely and experience-based profession of which many previously disadvantaged people were previously denied access to. The result of this is that many highly educated, first time developers enter the market with the support of funders but the lack of experience in development thus making many costly mistakes which could have been avoided had they had the right mentors and experience within the field. This has proven to be difficult to receive as those with the skills and experience are often reluctant to pass it on to those whom they may be unfamiliar with. It was found that SMME entrepreneurs lack the basic competencies to complete developments due to their lack of experience, which they in turn rely heavily on a professional team which is either too costly for the feasibility of the development or has limited experience, due to similar reasons pertaining to apartheid. The concern of gaining access to the best prime land at reasonable prices was great as it was found that this land, mostly government owned, was often sold to established private developers who had access to quick funding due to their track record and experience. This left the less desirable land to SMME developers who would in turn reap lower returns. Challenges related to the inefficient municipalities in the approval of development plans, the lack of access to affordable finance and equity, and the time delays from the approval of financing and building plans to those due to the contractors and professional teams, were identified as the three largest challenges. This is because they have cascading adverse effects on the rising cost of the developments, possibly rendering them unprofitable on completion, if they eventually reach this point. Solutions proposed include intervention by the government, private institutions and experienced mentors to guide first time developers in gaining the required skills to become successful and to pass on to other developers. Such interventions include incubation programs for entrepreneurs with a mentoring aspect from industry veterans who wish to share their networks and experience in paying it forward. Once these entrepreneurs have completed successful developments they would be mandated to become a mentor to other entrepreneurs as a way to continue closing the experiential gap for SMME real estate entrepreneurs.

The proposed research aims to gain a better understanding of the information inefficiencies in the real estate investment milieu through the exploration of the behaviour of real estate actors. The supposition is that a better understanding of the real estate actor behaviour in the context of market cyclicality should add to the body of knowledge on the pro-active mitigation of real estate investment losses. The exogenous factors causing market cyclicality such as the sub-prime mortgage crises of 2007/2008 is used analogously to an independent variable with the focus on the behaviour and interrelation of real estate actors or endogenous causes of market cyclicality. A phenomenological approach in the context of constructivist ontology is followed in a connected mixed method research strategy, i.e. a quantitative to qualitative sequential explanatory design to explore the behaviour of the real estate user, - developer and - investor. The quantitative data analysis takes the form of descriptive statistics of office vacancy rates, - areas and - capitalisation rates of seven nodes in Cape Town. Although inferential statistical methods, such as the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis Test, linear tend analysis and measures of linearity are used it is still used in the form of descriptive statistics to understand phenomena and extrapolate results to other situations. Qualitative data are collected through semi-structured interviews and analysis is done with Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenology approach to synthesise a general psychological structure based on the constituent of the participant’s experience. The study found that regular periods of over- and underbuilding in the real estate market may be influenced by the real estate actor because of the bounded nature of information and bounded capability of the actor. Real estate actors display behaviour actively avoiding the negative impact of market cyclicality through the use of agency. An agency based model is developed through this study showing that the real estate actor use specialisation to confine the unknown nature of information and to liberate the bounded ability of the real estate actor through working the network, engaging the network and signalling.