Planet Smart City’s ‘operating system’ vision for affordable housing

Source: Smart Cities World Published: Feb. 12, 2020

Planet Smart City is making waves, with big investment and large-scale housing developments. SmartCitiesWorld finds out more

Unprecedented growth in many cities has made affordable housing a challenge around the world.

A 2018 study revealed that of 200 cities polled globally, 90 per cent were considered unaffordable when applying the standard of average house prices being more than three times the median income. The United Nations has flagged housing affordability as an issue of strategic importance for “development, social peace and equality,” citing 1.6 billion people living in inadequate housing.

Planet Smart City is on a mission to transform the way affordable housing is delivered, through integrating replicable smart technological solutions into large-scale projects.

Planet Smart City already has two ‘mini-city’ developments in Brazil, another in the pipeline and has its sights set on India and beyond.

Earlier this month, the company completed its latest round of capital fundraising, securing €24 million from existing and new investors, taking the total amount raised since the company’s inception in 2015 to €100 million.

Planet Smart City already has two ‘mini-city’ developments in Brazil, another in the pipeline and has its sights set on India and beyond.

Alan Marcus, Chief Digital Strategy Officer, Planet Smart City, told SmartCitiesWorld the developments are aimed at professionals on low incomes who typically might not be eligible for a large enough mortgage to buy a home.

“There are huge amounts of unmet need,” he said. “When you look at that gap and see the value we can create, we think we have a differentiated product in a very, very large market."

Read more here.