Editorial

Citation

Warren, C.M.J. (2010), "Editorial", Property Management, Vol. 28 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.2010.11328eaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Property Management, Volume 28, Issue 5

Hi. This issue will be the last for 2010 and another busy year in property management bites the dust. It has been a year in which we have seen the further ramifications of the global financial crisis impinge on every aspect of the built environment and the broader economy. The global economic crisis has seen research agendas turning towards aspects of tighter economic management of property and an enhanced focus on the future sustainability of buildings. Addressing these issues has prompted many papers presented at international conferences and, indeed, in this issue.

Property Management and many of the other Emerald Publishing built environment journals have been represented at a number of the International Real Estate Society conferences around the world, including the American, European, Asian and Pacific Rim real estate societies. It is encouraging to see that a number of the papers presented at these conferences are being further refined and enhanced for submission to Property Management in order to reach a wider international readership. As Editor I have managed to attend three of these conferences and meet with a number of our authors and those in the process of preparing papers for the journal. It is rewarding to have the opportunity to meet and discuss the research agenda of many of the property departments scattered across the globe and use this to guide the future direction for the journal.

This issue of Property Management brings together a series of research articles with a truly international spread and includes research conducted in New Zealand, Australia, Nigeria, Poland and Sweden. There is also a common thread in that many of the papers address the residential sector and the practice of property management within the regions. Both of the papers from Europe relate to the management, maintenance and refurbishment of the large public sector housing stock. The paper by Blomé discusses the issues faced by Municipalities in managing 885,000 rental apartments in Sweden, while Belej discusses the problems of refurbishing 1970s apartment buildings to meet modern levels of thermal comfort and energy use. Still on a residential theme, the paper by Fortes examines the New Zealand, private, owner occupier market and the costs and benefits of refurbishing dwellings for sale. The papers reflect the growing focus around the world in providing and maintaining sustainable homes to both the owned and rental markets.

The remaining two papers in this issue address aspects of professional practice within the property field. Agboola, still largely staying within the residential practice area, investigates the ethics of the real estate agency profession within Nigeria. The paper investigates user perceptions of real estate agents and highlights many of the perceived shortcomings of the profession. The Australian paper by Hefferan picks up the professional practice theme and discusses the changing education agenda and the need for universities to meet the changing needs of the market. The paper recommends that educational offerings move more toward vocational training to meet the expectations of employers and professional bodies. I believe that this issue contains some thought provoking research, which I hope will stimulate debate among both academics and practitioners and help to support and promote further research into these important aspects of the property industry.

I am also pleased that this issue sees the return of our Internet update feature and of a regular book review section. This issue’s Internet update focuses on the plethora of social networking sites which exist and are increasingly being seen as the future of professional communication. Indeed, I am pleased to be able to add to the list of networking sites quoted in the Internet update by advising that Property Management, and several other Emerald built environment publications, have now been included on Academia.edu. For those not familiar with this site, it provides a convenient way to track the research activities of academics around the world. By following Property Management on Academia.edu you will be automatically alerted to each issue of the journal and its content.

A regular review of new books of interest to readers of the journal will be included in future when suitable texts are available. In this issue we start with a book written principally as a student text, but which provides a good overview of the strategic management of corporate real estate asset management. If you have any upcoming texts, or know of new publications that might be suitable for inclusion in the book review section, please contact me.

Finally, as one busy year of real estate conferences draws to a close, we can look forward to the start of another and I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet many of you at international conferences over the course of the year.

Clive M.J. Warren