As a developer with a past chapter as both a public sector planner and a consultant to the public sector, I find the dance between the public and private sector interesting – particularly with respect to the development industry.
The development industry has evolved from one with little collaboration between government and developers, both operating in a context of lower standards, into a highly integrated, highly regulated, increasingly educated industry with high expectations of all involved.
In today’s situation, any developer trying excessively circumvent or evade government policy or standards may win in the short term but generally loses money, time and credibility and damages their public consent to operate as well as that of the industry as a whole in the long term. In this context, the development industry and local governments / community now have to work together if either is to achieve their goals.
The standards to which developers are now required to adhere to in both process and product is increasingly high – to the point where expectations in the community / local government cause projects to fail regularly or simply not start at all.
While expectations have risen, the community and local government are still generally not aware of the reality of the industry and how fragile any project can be. Moreover, there seems to be little connection in the minds of most that every building they live, work, learn, play or shop in was created by a developer and as such, developers are not those who destroy communities (as claimed by many), but rather those who take significant risks to build them.
In an increasingly regulated and financially strained industry, misalignment in the knowledge and expectations between stakeholders in the developer process undermine economic development, raise the cost of housing, and generally create an antagonistic atmosphere where a positive and collaborative atmosphere would be more productive for all.
It is now in the development industry’s interest to take a much stronger proactive role in educating the community and government in the realities of the industry and in proactively providing perspectives and policies that we believe meet both private and public interests.
This reality is now forcing developers to increasingly think like public sector policy wonks in order to strategically select the right path at the beginning of a project – and it is causing some interesting discussions within the industry itself, especially between the new and old guard.