Real Estate and Urban Development

By Mohamad Yamout and Daria Koroleva

The real estate sector is no longer the slow-moving and stable market it once was. It is undergoing profound structural change, shaped by sharper and less predictable market cycles, volatile financing conditions, rising construction costs, and evolving user needs. Once characterized by steady value appreciation, the industry now faces constant adjustment pressures and transformational forces that challenge traditional business models. Across all asset classes, investors, developers, and operators are forced to navigate heightened uncertainty while rethinking how they plan, deliver, and manage projects.

Urban development itself is being reimagined, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where governments are deploying real estate as a strategic lever for economic diversification and social transformation. Mega-projects, mixed-use districts, and smart infrastructure programs are reshaping urban landscapes and testing the industry’s ability to deliver at scale, under tight timelines, and within demanding ESG frameworks . At the same time, rapid shifts in financing conditions — from higher interest rates to constrained capital availability — are redefining investment strategies and forcing players to innovate in funding structures and investor partnerships.

Regulatory and environmental pressures are redefining how assets are conceived and planned. Stricter decarbonization standards and sustainability requirements have moved from compliance to core value drivers, pushing developers to integrate sustainable design principles as a means of preserving long-term asset value and ensuring future relevance. In parallel, developers increasingly collaborate across ecosystems — partnering with regulators, technology providers, and local communities — to improve societal acceptance and align new developments with broader urban and environmental objectives.

Construction costs have risen sharply and have become increasingly volatile, driven by global supply chain disruptions, sustained material price inflation, and a persistent shortage of skilled labor. Delivery risks are higher than ever, with project timelines and budgets under constant pressure. In response, leading players are embracing more industrialized and leaner approaches to construction — such as modular building, prefabrication, and digital design — to manage cost inflation and increase predictability. Supply chain resilience, supplier risk management, and procurement efficiency have become central priorities across the project lifecycle.

Once assets are delivered, owners and operators face a fundamentally different operating environment. Diversification across asset classes and along the value chain — from development and construction to asset and facility management — has become a key strategy to reduce cyclical risk and stabilize revenues. At the same time, leading investors are responding to deeper urban and societal shifts: They are reshaping portfolios and development strategies to reflect changing household structures, new patterns of mobility, hybrid work models, and evolving urban lifestyles. Real estate is no longer about static ownership but about dynamic value management across the entire lifecycle.

Roland Berger’s core service offerings

Roland Berger’s global real estate practice supports public and private clients across the entire real estate lifecycle

• Ideation & financing: We help you shape visionary urban and investment concepts into bankable projects — defining development strategies, structuring funding models, and building partnerships that unlock growth.

• Feasibility & design: We ensure your projects are future-proof and value-maximizing by embedding ESG, regulatory, and stakeholder considerations early on — creating robust, execution-ready concepts.

• Execution: We enhance your ability to deliver on time and on budget through industrialized construction approaches, resilient supply chain management, and rigorous project governance.

• Value management & operations: We support you in optimizing asset performance and portfolio resilience — from operating model redesign and facility management to long-term value creation across cycles.

Roland Berger positioning on real estate

Our work in real estate builds on Roland Berger’s matrix model, combining sectoral depth with cross-functional expertise. We bring together dedicated practices in urban development, infrastructure, tourism, healthcare, logistics, civil economics, digital, HR management, and energy, enabling us to approach real-estate projects within their broader economic and societal context.

We cover the entire value chain, from land acquisition and development through design, construction, financing, asset management, and portfolio optimization. This end-to-end perspective allows us to help clients align their real-estate strategies with their long-term strategic goals — whether real estate represents their core business or is a strategic enabler within a larger corporate agenda.

Our perspective is performance-driven. Drawing on methodologies honed in manufacturing and industrial transformation, we help clients achieve cost efficiency, operational excellence, and sustainable performance. In a disrupted environment, this means building organizations that can withstand market volatility and deliver consistently across complex project portfolios.

At Roland Berger, we believe the transformation of the built environment is one of the defining challenges and opportunities of our time.

By combining global perspective, sectoral expertise, and implementation know-how, we help clients shape the next generation of real estate and urban assets: smarter, greener, and more resilient.