Office Markets and Public Policy

This is the first book that looks at how offices and officemarkets in cities have changed over the last 30 years. Itanalyses the long-term trends and processes within office markets,and the interaction with the spatial economy and the planning ofcities. It draws on examples around the world, and lookingforward at the future consequences of information communicationtechnologies and the sustainability agenda, it sets out thechallenges that now face investors. The traditional business centres of cities are losing theirdominance to the brash new centres of the 1980s and 1990s, as theconcept of the central business district becomes morediffuse. Edge cities, business space and office parks haveentered the vocabulary as offices have also decentralised. The nature and pace of changes to office markets set withinevolving spatial structures of cities has had implications fortenants and led to a demand for shorter leases. Theconsequence is a rethink of the traditional perception of propertyinvestment as a secure long term investment, and this is reflectedin reduced investment holding periods by financialinstitutions. Office Markets & Public Policy analyses theseprocesses and policy issues from an international perspective andcovers: A descriptive and theoretical base encompassing an historicalcontext, a review of the fundamentals of the demand for and supplyof the office market and offices as an investment. Embeddedwithin this section is a perspective on underlying forcesparticularly the influence of technological change. A synthesis of our understanding of the spatial structure anddynamics of local office markets at the city level. An assessment of the goals and influence of planning policies,and the evaluation of policies designed toward the long termsustainability of cities as services centres. This goes beyond standard real estate and urban economics booksby assessing the changing shape of urban office markets within aspatial theoretical and policy context. It will be a usefuladvanced text for honours and postgraduate students of landeconomy; land management; property and real estate; urban planning;and urban studies. It will also be of interest to researchers,property professionals, policy-makers and planningpractitioners.