To boldly go where no developer has gone before...

Everyone has their moments of doubt, so how can they be overcome to drive you to cross the desert with broken a fractured spine – and then immediately return to training, even though the grim spectre of disability is hanging over your head? Despite going through this very ordeal, two years later Krzysztof Hołowczyc nevertheless could be seen brandishing a Polish flag on the podium of the Dakar Rally 2015. At a recent event held by ECE Projektmanagement, he shared this and other stories about his sport and motivation with the real estate market, but also talked about pushing yourself to the very limit. Because sometimes it’s worth venturing well outside that comfort zone. Change can induce anxiety, but don’t things usually turn out for the best in the end? Well, that may be just a cliché, but then I started to wonder if it applies to the real estate market. Are developers ready for change and can they adopt the different approach needed for building their projects? From reading the article ‘No More Mordors’ in this issue, it seems that they can. They are ready to move on from the failed model of developing mono–functional districts, such as those that are dominated by oppressive glass and concrete office buildings. Large schemes of this kind do need resources and a great deal of work to carry out but, above all, they should form part of a clear and coherent plan that meets the needs of residents, investors as well as the city authorities. This is an approach that is now being increasingly taken on board, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will turn out to be the right way forward. But to realise this new vision we will need to bold and push ourselves well beyond our previous limits.