A system-based approach to evaluate real estate projects – A case study demonstration

To achieve sustainable development, developing sustainable real estate projects has become quite important. In real applications, however, this task is quite challenging due to the complexity involved in actual projects, which may include multi aspects/systems. Therefore, to develop strategic solutions, system-based thinking is highly required, so the individual component in each real estate project can be well considered, as well as their interconnections. Earlier, Edkins & Mayhew have proposed a theoretical system-based thinking approach for real estate projects. This approach has four systems, namely Technological System, Institutional System, Social System, and Environmental System (TISE), that need to be considered when designing the project. In addition, three index were proposed to evaluate the success of the project, and they are People, Economy and Nature (PEN). To demonstrate the implementation of this approach, the approach was used in an actual project that received an award of outstanding real estate projects from the UN-Habitat. The results from the study well justified the contribution of each system in TISE in the design process and their interconnections. In addition, the PEN index can comprehensively reflect the success of the project from various aspects.