Urban development needs waymakers

The evolution of our urban spaces is becoming more complex. And that's precisely why good planning alone is no longer enough for a project to succeed. What matters is how different interests, capital, responsibility, and long-term impact are brought together — exactly the questions that will also be at stake at EXPO REAL 2026. That's why we're there — not just to sip coffee and shake hands, but to set impulses for the city of tomorrow, and to take some in as well.

The guiding principle for EHRET+CIE: to think about project development more from the standpoint of enabling — of possibility-making.

It begins with a simple question: What can this place become? Not every site, not every district, suits every use. Those who read a place's talent, rather than forcing a ready-made concept onto it, often find more viable solutions than any drawing board could produce.

Projects don't happen in isolation. They need resilient partnerships between the public sector, private actors, authorities, neighborhoods, and users. Responsibility isn't passed along here — it's shared, just like opportunities and risks. Individual coordination processes need to grow into a genuine culture of cooperation.

Enabling possibility, then, also means creating spaces for collaboration — between actors who often move at different speeds, with different interests and different logics. Good project development doesn't just bring these perspectives to the table. It creates a framework in which they can turn into viable solutions.

This also changes how we look at investment. Value doesn't emerge from a project's calculations alone. It emerges where economic viability, social quality, and ecological responsibility come together. Investment thus becomes an enabler, not a constraint. Capital creates the room for an idea to become a place that works in the long run.

Especially in a market where financing increasingly determines whether anything gets built at all, this is a decisive question: How do we deploy capital so that it enables not just returns, but development? How do projects emerge that are economically viable while also creating real value for city and society?

With "Human Proof," EHRET+CIE sets a clear benchmark for this: a project only succeeds once it proves itself in the everyday lives of the people who live, work, invest, or simply take part in that place. Behind this lies a core conviction: what enriches a city and its society can — and must — also work economically. This is exactly where the circle closes back to a place's talent: only a use that fits the place can truly prove itself in people's everyday lives.

Thinking about project development from the standpoint of enabling also means thinking longer-term. A city can't be optimized for the next exit. Projects have an impact over decades. That requires clear visions and high standards — but equally, a willingness to keep questioning one's own assumptions. EHRET+CIE calls this long-haul thinking: not growing bigger at any cost, but becoming more consistent in attitude, quality, and responsibility.

These are exactly the questions that belong at EXPO REAL. Because that's where the industry negotiates how to get back into the business of making, under changed conditions. What partnerships are needed between the public sector, the private sector, and civil society? How can risks be meaningfully shared? How does capital need to be deployed for development to become possible again? And how much adaptability does an industry need whose conditions are changing faster than many of its planning processes?

Michael Ehret will bring exactly this perspective to the conversation at EXPO REAL — with experience from real project practice, a clear stance, and impulses for an industry that must redefine its role. He'll be sharing his experiences on LinkedIn, as well as here in the blog section after the Expo.