Real estate pioneer and impact entrepreneur, Tony Cho, announces the launch of the Future of Cities platform – a mission-driven organization and consortium dedicated to transforming communities worldwide through sustainable development. By adopting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and propagating best practices from multi-disciplinary partners, Future of Cities will drive outsized returns and a positive impact across diverse communities, improving the quality of urban living. The platform aims to impact more than one billion people, helping organizations in the U.S. and around the world reimagine building and development through Regenerative Placemaking.
“As the challenges cities face multiply and become more evident in the face of the global pandemic, the Future of Cities will reimagine how we live, work, play and learn,” said Tony Cho, CEO and Founder of Future of Cities. “With various societal inequalities further exposed in 2020, the idea was born to encourage those who can influence cities to make a commitment to our collective well-being. If we want to create solutions for affordable housing and climate change, we need unprecedented cross-sector collaboration at scale.”
Future of Cities will serve as part real estate investment vehicle, part venture capital ecosystem and part think tank to source and scale solutions:
- Real Estate Investment and Development: Reimagining the built environment to be community-centric, eco-friendly, pandemic- and climate-resistant, Future of Cities will leverage Opportunity Zones and Public Private Partnerships to activate capital and develop ‘living laboratories’ of safe, healthy, thriving cities of the future.
- Public Advocacy:Connecting thinkers and doers, Future of Cities will promote open source thought leadership and advocate for smart, inclusive policy agendas to influence holistic city design.
- Venture Ecosystem: Investing in small businesses and technologies, such as smart city technology, PropTech, HealthTech and clean technologies, Future of Cities will incubate, accelerate and aggregate sustainable development and maximize access to leaders supporting adoption of regenerative solutions.
Future of Cities is a globally distributed network of innovators and experts with a management team that has already collectively stewarded over $2 billion in development projects across more than 20 cities around the world. Notable Future of Cities strategic partner organizations include the Chopra Foundation by Deepak Chopra, MIT’s Global CoCreation Lab, and the Buckminster Fuller Institute. These organizations are joined by a host of global advisors, subject matter experts, technology partners, investors, policymakers, local municipalities and governments, and leaders of nonprofit organizations, businesses and corporations that have committed to adopting ESG strategies. A full list of Future of Cities advisors and partners can be found here.
Cho will continue to serve as the chairman of Metro 1 – a forward-thinking full service real estate investment, brokerage, management and development firm focused on shaping neighborhoods and developing sustainable cities. As the founder of the Magic City Innovation District Little Haiti – an 18-acre large-scale regenerative mixed-use project – Cho is a long-standing advocate for the community and pioneer of emerging neighborhoods including the Wynwood Arts District, Little Haiti and Little River.