Fog on the horizon

Evidently, there were noticeably fewer visitors and exhibitors at this year’s fair, but some of those attending actually saw this as a positive – that the event is becoming more specialised, and it’s better without those that shouldn’t be there as they only take up valuable time with fruitless meetings and add to the queues to the toilet. While others, with a rather irritating air of cynicism, took this as their cue to proclaim that “MIPIM is dying!” and with a sinister snigger went on to argue that the format of meeting up in one of Europe’s most expensive cities on the Côte d’Azur has had its day – especially at a time when we’re all tightening our belts. Another set of opinion makers, the army of optimists, compare the present market to a sports car with a revving engine but with the handbrake on. All we have to do is wait for the driver to lift the brake-handle and then we’ll all surge forward into a brighter f