Partnerships are in our DNA
We aim to mobilize the urban value chain to enable real change with, and for cities. Partnerships are at the core of our investment approach as a way to both de-risk our investments and secure that our impact is lasting. We partner in different ways with both private and public stakeholders – and along the way, we share findings, returns, successes, and learnings.
Creating blueprints for Green and Thriving Neighborhoods
We have established a deep and pioneering partnership with C40 Cities, a global network of mayors from around 100 of the world’s largest cities, working to confront the climate crisis and based on a strong mutual belief in the transformative power of cities as key to both innovation, growth and competitiveness. We’ve partnered to develop the Green and Thriving Neighborhoods program, delivering proof of concept for “15-minute city” policies and practices, including specific 20+ city pilots empowering cities around the globe to implement ambitious net-zero and people-centered neighborhoods. To achieve this, we’ve built up a support ecosystem that includes a range of strategic partners including Novo Nordisk, Arup, UNEP, UN Habitat and Sorbonne University. Currently, the main focus of our work is exploring new financing mechanisms for large-scale urban regeneration with a view to unlocking capital for these types of neighborhood-scale urban development projects.
GREEN and Leaders of the Urban Future – Rallying global investors around the decarbonization challenge in real estate
Along with a global group of influential and progressive urban investors and Systemiq, we co-founded Leaders of the Urban Future (LOTUF), as a surge project of investors collaborating to accelerate our sector’s decarbonization challenge. By pooling our learnings and working closely together over the course of two years, we developed the North Star principles calling for a common understanding of decarbonization in real estate. By doing so, we aim to bring others along this journey and create a tipping point for our sector. In 2024 we initiated a merger between Leaders of the Urban Future and the Green Real - Estate Engagement Network (GREEN). LOTUF and GREEN have agreed to combine efforts to pool institutional capital behind a combined roadmap to decarbonizing the real estate sector in line with a 1.5 degree future. Underpinned by a similar paper defining this joint approach (GREEN’s Investor Statement and LOTUFs North Star), the focus of this new group will be around engagement, more specifically how to rally the industry behind this need for greater alignment and activation of the net zero agenda. Together the members of GREEN and LOTUF represent $+3trn in assets under management (AUM).
A thriving community hub at the heart of Jernbanebyen – the hyper-local approach to urban development
Spor10 is an innovative partnership that explores and builds the healthy urban community of tomorrow in the heart of the upcoming neighborhood development area of Jernbanebyen (The Railway District) in Central Copenhagen. The initiative unites a diverse group of founding partners, including The Railway District’s landowners and investors (Nrep, DSB, Freja Ejendomme, Novo Holdings and Industriens Pension), alongside global impact partners (C40 Cities, Novo Nordisk A/S, INGKA Group (IKEA Retail), Gehl), and the design teams involved (COBE, COWI, Archival Studies). Spor10 is an Nrep-led partnership and the network of community partners is at +20 organizations and still growing covering youth engagement, sports, creativity, NGOs and local partners.
We are also pulling together with:
Bloomberg
Urban Partners is the Co-Chair of The Bloomberg New Economy Dynamic Cities Coalition, a leadership group across the urban value chain working to build a data-based framework to create better cities. 2150 is a partner to Bloomberg NEF, a leading provider of research on the transition to a lower-carbon economy.