Promoting cooperation between property developers and municipalities - Analysis of communication needs

Real estate is closely linked to urban development since space is a major factor of urban competitiveness; while a successful property development is dependent on suitable patterns of legal rights, which are specified by municipalities (e.g. D´Arcy & Keogh 1999, Renigier-Bilozor et al. 2016). According to this interdependence, property developers and municipalities have a mutual interest in functioning urban structures. However, divergent perspectives and interests seemingly impede a collaborative partnership between both stakeholder groups. Consequences of this contradiction are, for example, considerable delays and cost overruns of construction projects, while causes continue to be a lack of communication and unwillingness to cooperate (Bone-Winkel & Gerstner 2005; Meyer and Pfnür 2015). In this respect, the paper focusses on communication needs, which will be discussed on the basis of three workshops held in 4th quarter 2018. To make sure that the participants would not feel offended by the presence of the opposite party, there were two separate workshops with municipal representatives as well as property developers to analyse self-conceptions, expectations as well as working-methods. The third workshop served as a synthesis of the previous ones and was attended by participants from both stakeholder groups.It is found out, that both stakeholder groups are ambitious to act as partners, still trust is strongly personalised. Nevertheless, to increase mutual trust, joint dialogue and working platforms are demanded by both parties during the whole project development. It is recommended to focus on the topic, instead of personal roles. Property developers in particular should not approach municipalities with ready-made concepts, but should develop location- and project-related ideas together with the municipal administration.The conference contribution will highlight the findings of the workshops in detail. Drawn conclusions and recommended actions will be put up for discussion. Furthermore, the findings of the workshops are going to serve as a base for further expert interviews.