How Can Tech Reduce Housing Costs? – Nikki Greenberg, Real Estate of the Future, from Smart City Expo World Congress 2025

"There's a housing shortage crisis in places all around the world. And for me, as somebody that is from architecture, from urban design, from property development, especially for residential buildings, I believe that technology is …an avenue to be able to facilitate lower cost development…One of the things that (an expert from Los Angeles) told me about, which was a great example of being able to speed up construction and affordability, is just around the recent fires that happened. And one of the things that they're doing is that they are using artificial intelligence to help speed up that development program." 

Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast

Housing costs are out of control, especially in cities. As A.I. tools proliferate, can they reduce housing costs? Can A.I. and other technologies make cities more climate-resilient at the same time and while maintaining the vibrancy that attracts billions of people? 

Listen to architect and urban designer, Nikki Greenberg, CEO of Real Estate of the Future and an advisor on urban innovation, in this fascinating conversation Electric Ladies Podcast host Joan Michelson had with her at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain in 2025.

You’ll hear about:

●        How cities are using A.I. to reduce housing costs and improve climate-resilience.

●        How cities can be hubs of “soft diplomacy” as city leaders across the globe share best practices, tips and strategies to make their cities better, more affordable and more climate-resilient.

●        How climate change has affected city building codes: From the type of energy systems to have to where to locate them, to designing flexibility into building structures.

●        Plus, insightful career advice:

“You can't stop learning and you can't be complacent. And yes, you might have time constraints. Yes, you might have disadvantages. Yes, you may have been in your career and been very good at it for a very long time, but it doesn't mean that you can sit still and stop learning.…The advantage that you have is that you have experience, you have professional networks, you know how to hold down a job….But you have to get behind the new technology and learn how to use it because that's the tools that we're using moving forward.” Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast

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  You’ll also like:

·       Urban Climate Actions at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress: Listen to Joan’s panel with three extraordinary urban women leaders from across the globe who are using creative strategies to address climate issues.

·       Using Climate Modelling – with Maria Caffrey, Ph.D., UK National Physical Laboratory, on how climate modelling works and how best to use it most effectively 

·       How Cities Can Thrive Through Polycrises – With Lauren Sorkin, Resilient Cities Network, on the range of crises cities are facing all at once today and how to manage them, at Smart City Expo World Congress 2024.

·       How to Rebuild After Disaster – With Majora Carter, Urban Revitalization Expert and CEO of the Majora Carter Group

·       Predicting Climate Impacts In Neighborhoods – with Jessica Filante Farrington, AT&T’s Director of Global Sustainability

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