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.

Purpose: The valuation tasks for manual valuation are time-demanding and cognitively challenging. Behaviourists have observed that valuation accuracy and variations are mainly caused by human adaptive approaches called cognitive shortcuts. Of particular interest for valuation tasks is the susceptibility of decision makers to anchoring heuristics. The anchoring and adjustment approach is a mental shortcut which involves deliberate and conscious adjustment of values, known to be wrong but close to a right answer. Various studies have shown that valuers are prone to anchoring to asking price, previous estimate and other reference points. The incidence of valuation bias in the property market and the world is of concern. Few studies have used the decision-support tool to reduce property appraisal bias. The research purpose is therefore to determine the efficacy of the decision-support tool in reducing and eliminating property appraisal bias in the South African property market. Design/methodology/approach: Similar to previous behavioural studies, a controlled experimental study design was used. The experimental design is based on a previous German study that uses a self-written valuation software in a MS Excel package, adapted to the South African market. The software comprises two versions, a standard software and a decision-support software, which were administered to separate groups of novices and experts. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric testing were used to interpret the results. Findings: Consistent with other research on valuation accuracy and variations, the findings show that the valuation outcomes do not align with 'margin of errors' concept. Despite the results not being as robust as one would have expected, the study revealed that test subjects were susceptible to the anchoring effects and that use of a decision-support tool can help to reduce valuation variations. Practical implications: This study heightened the need to counter the effect of bias in valuation. The high variance among the experts group is of concern and should be addressed. Other forms of cognitive shortcuts used by valuers should be incorporated into the decision-support tool, and a similar test run for different valuation settings. The behavioural contentions should be discussed and presented to novices and experts.

The need for supportive non-conventional housing environments that encourage cohesion, conflict resolution, independence, self-disclosure, organisation, residential influence and physical comfort, amongst elderly residents is becoming critical, yet the evaluation of existing elderly housing settings is often overlooked. The aim of the research was to identify residents' perceptions of the social climate in shared housing settings, a non-conventional housing initiative being undertaken by non-profit organisations for the low-income elderly population group in Cape Town, South Africa. A case research study involved 45 participants living in 7 of the 13 shared houses affiliated to the Neighbourhood Old Age Homes (NOAH) organization. Using the Sheltered Care Environmental Scale (SCES), participants answered 63 'Yes / No' questions aimed at revealing their opinions of the social climate in the shared homes. The initial findings detected overall satisfaction amongst most residents regarding interfacing social dynamics, suggesting high levels of perceived independence, self-disclosure and residential influence. Mixed results were generally observed regarding interfacing social dynamics related to levels of physical comfort, organization in the homes, cohesion and conflict resolution. The findings suggest that the shared housing concept advanced by the Neighbourhood Old Age Homes (NOAH) organisation has been able to successfully promote a sense of cohesion, conflict resolution, independence, self-disclosure, organisation, residential influence and physical comfort amongst residents, thereby playing a vital role in residents' experience of residential satisfaction in these homes.

Global warming is becoming a topic on everyone's mind as the world turns towards a sustainable way of living. In the property industry, people are looking for ways to encourage investors to move towards sustainable development. This requires some convincing as the increased costs of green buildings need to be justified, specifically looking at the financial returns for the investor. Green buildings are said to increase productivity of its occupants but the difficulty in quantitatively measuring productivity has proven to be a stumbling block in this process. Various green buildings were identified, and their occupants interviewed to provide some answers on the impact of green certification in office buildings, specifically in Cape Town. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with occupants who worked in a building both prior to, as well as during the implementation of green initiatives. Difficulties in this measurement were noted and discussed throughout. It was decided as a result of the available responses, and the guidance from the literature, that perceived productivity could be used as an acceptable form of productivity. It was therefore also necessary to include a section in the interview on personal stresses that the respondent may be experiencing that might also impact productivity. Findings showed that whilst respondents were positive about the green environment and had seen an increase in productivity, a few were unsure about whether these were linked, especially when other factors such as change in management had occurred. The overall feeling of respondents was better and healthier in the greener building, and all reported favourably on most green initiatives. Future research on measurement tools can be investigated with a larger sample being interviewed. It will also be helpful to have further information into the respondents' backgrounds, position in the company and general feeling within the organization that may have an effect on productivity. The more knowledge the respondents have on the office, the larger the collection of reliable data. A greater range of green-starred buildings should be included as well as more than one respondent per building, to increase the sample for comparison.

The phenomenon of gentrification is a controversial and heated issue globally, but there is nowhere more so than in South Africa. The country's legacy of Apartheid has meant that those most vulnerable to displacement are typically previously disadvantaged citizens and a lack of government intervention in the gentrification process is often compared by the media to the forced removals and neighbourhood segregation seen under Apartheid. Today, governments and municipalities are saddled with the task of trying to regenerate areas and inspire investment, whilst simultaneously protecting previously disadvantaged communities and responding to pressures for low-income housing options in city neighbourhoods. The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of street art in both gentrification and urban regeneration in Cape Town's Woodstock and Salt River areas in order to ascertain how it effects existing community members, business owners and in-movers with the hope that this would assist in more informed decisions around urban regeneration. A mixed-method research methodology was applied, consisting of 161 street surveys with passerbys at four different street art sites, 108 surveys with business owners and property professionals, and 11 semi-structured interviews with informed people such as artists, tour guides, city councillors and organisation leaders. The findings revealed an overall positive sentiment towards street art by various participating groups (including long-standing community members and business owners) and a perception that it plays a powerful positive role in regenerating areas. However, it also revealed that cultural and historical representation in street art holds importance to long-standing communities and that government intervention and strategies should be explored to curb any gentrifying effect it may have.

Residential property prices in the Western Cape, South Africa, have experienced the highest increase, reaching close to 10% annual increase, in comparison to the rest of the country over the last decade (Lightstone, 2019). Lemanski (2007) further elaborates that residential property prices in Cape Town, in the Northern and Southern Suburbs, have increased by close to 30% from 1980s-late 2000s. This results from the interaction between supply and demand. The demand for property is a function of: need, preference, availability and affordability (Lancaster, 1966). The preference for a particular residential property is in turn determined by internal factors, at a property level, and external factors, at the neighbourhood level. The influence of internal factors such as: land extent, building area, location, number of bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom amongst others, on property prices is well-known. However, the influence of external-locational factors, on residential property prices in the context of South Africa, has been subject of little research. It is argued that, for those who can afford, there is a preference for residential houses which are close to areas that are: well-established, high quality, well controlled, modern hubs for economic activities and central to amenities (Scatigna, Szemere, & Tsatsaronis, 2014; Turok, 2001; Lemanski, 2007; Kotze & Donaldson, 1998; Can 1998). These well-established neighbourhoods are the outcome of past public and private investment, and such neighbourhoods are found in the Northern and Southern Suburbs (Turok, 2001; Lemanski, 2007). Features associated with location, such as the number of offices/business properties, shopping centres, educational institutions, places of worship, medical institutions and residential vacant land, are considered to have an influence on residential house prices and hence contribute to high increases in value in the Northern and Southern Suburbs (Scatigna, Szemere, & Tsatsaronis, 2014; Turok, 2001; Lemanski, 2007; Kotze & Donaldson, 1998; Bardhan, Sarkar, & Kumar, 2016). The findings indicate that the highest concentration of the above-mentioned factors, with the exception of the number of residential vacant land, are found in the Northern and Southern Suburbs. For the Northern suburb, the external factors, the number of: places of worship, business/offices properties and residential vacant land, are recorded to have an influence on the value of residential properties. For the Southern Suburb, the external factors, the number of: places of worship, business/offices properties, shopping centres and medical institutions, are recorded to have an in fluence on the value of residential properties. It is inferred that external factors have an impact on residential property prices and hence have contributed to high increases in value in the Northern and Southern Suburbs. Lastly, it was observed that the Northern and Southern Suburbs are influenced by different combinations of external factors.