Hanover. In a unique combination of networking, conference and trade fair, the Real Estate Arena will celebrate its premiere in Hanover as a new real estate event on May 18-19, 2022. "We want to establish a new, fresh platform for the real estate industry with the Real Estate Arena in Hanover. The response from the market shows that there is great potential for a new format in the first half of the year," said project manager Hartwig von Saß in Hanover. The Real Estate Arena was originally planned for May 2021, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. The organizers expect more than 100 participating companies and around 3,000 visitors.

The Real Estate Arena places a special focus on smaller and medium-sized cities, locations and companies. "The challenges and topics are similar to those of large metropolises, only different solutions are needed in medium-sized and smaller cities. And these are exactly what will be discussed, presented and worked out at the Real Estate Arena," von Saß said. The goal is to use unusual, interdisciplinary formats across industry boundaries to identify new ways in which the industry can actively shape the future.

One important topic will be addressed at the Real Estate Arena on the very first day. It's climate change, the debate around sustainability and the real estate industry's responsibility. Dr. Christine Lemaitre, CEO of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), is considered an internationally renowned expert on the subject. Her keynote is titled: "The real estate industry's complicated relationship with sustainability." The DGNB was founded 15 years ago and is now Europe's largest network for sustainability in the real estate sector, with nearly 1,500 member organizations. The DGNB benchmarks are considered the basis for certificates in many countries.

The future of residential construction will also be on the stage of the Real Estate Arena. Axel Gedaschko, President of the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW), will talk about the future of housing construction and the right instruments to address the housing shortage. Several hundred thousand apartments are still lacking nationwide, and there is a particular struggle to find affordable housing in the face of rising building regulations. How can companies still invest economically close to the center in view of exploding building land prices? How do companies position themselves? What can local authorities do?

The topic of the presentation by Carsten Knop, publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Eike Becker, architect of the new FAZ publishing house in Frankfurt, is the future of work after the Corona pandemic. What are the consequences of the trend toward mobile working for one of Europe's most important media houses? And how must architecture respond to this with building designs?

Anyone looking at the future of city centers quickly comes across the Core project in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. Behind the project is architect Alexis Angelis. He, too, will talk about his project on the Real Estate Arena stage. In addition, the Real Estate Arena will answer the question of what unimagined opportunities digitalization brings for the industry. The topics of logistics, hospitality and business development will also be addressed in special formats.

Numerous organizations are supporting the Real Estate Arena: the Society for Sustainable Building, DGNB, the Lower Saxony and Bremen Association of the Housing and Real Estate Industry (vdw), BFW Landesverband freier Immobilien- und Wohnungsunternehmen Niedersachsen/Bremen, the Association of German Architects Hanover (BDA), the new nationwide network "Die Stadtretter". The patron of the event is Lower Saxony's Construction Minister Olaf Lies.

A total of around 100 companies are expected to participate in the premiere of the Real Estate Arena as sponsors and exhibitors. The new event is being designed and organized by Deutsche Messe AG together with Real Estate Events. Depending on the specific conditions, up to 3,000 visitors* are expected. The exhibiting companies can invite their own business contacts to the Real Estate Arena via free trade visitor tickets. Visitor tickets cost 199 euros.