Finding meaning in urban development

From infrastructure to urban investing

My path to urban development didn't start in real estate at all. Before joining Urban Partners, I spent five years at McKinsey & Co. working on large infrastructure projects, mostly in energy and renewables in my final years. I found it deeply meaningful to help create assets that made a positive difference to society, and when I decided to move on, I was looking for a place where I could keep doing that.

When I joined Urban Partners in 2016, back when we were still called NREP, we were around 60 people across the Nordics. It was a small company with a pioneering spirit and a real drive to make a difference. It was also clear from day one that this wasn't just a place for real estate people. Colleagues came from consulting, culture, politics and entrepreneurship. That mix is still here, and it's a big part of why I value my colleagues so much.

Many roles, one direction

I've held many roles along the way. I started by developing our sustainability strategy at a time when nobody knew for sure whether building sustainably would pay off. Fortunately, it did. But I wanted to be closer to where and how the decisions were made, so I moved into the investment team, and in 2017 I got the chance to work on Tingbjerg, my first urban development project.

From there I moved on to the Jernbanebyen project in Copenhagen. It taught me that good urban development takes time and needs a particular kind of capital, one that understands you have to invest in creating a great place for a new city district to succeed. That thinking became the foundation for our new urban development fund. Today, I'm responsible for our urban development investments, assessing opportunities across cities including London, Munich, Stockholm, and Hamburg. It's incredibly exciting, and a privilege to work with, because each city comes with its own specific set of challenges and opportunities.

Worth the wait

Out of all of the urban development projects I’ve worked on across the years, Tingbjerg has personally meant the most to me. I've always liked quick feedback, and urban development moves slowly, but in this case it's been worth the wait. It showed me what's possible when social housing organisations and private capital work together to create lasting change. Today, I can take my children out there and show them what I've been part of and what kind of an impact it’s having on people who live there every single day.

Being part of building our urban development fund has given me the most. It pushed me to understand where the value in urban development really comes from, and how institutional capital, within the right framework, can help create the cities and homes Europe needs. It also showed me how much you can achieve when you bring people with the right skills together around the same goal. That includes the experienced international colleagues who joined us to build the team.

After ten years here, I'm looking forward to the next ten.