Workers’ pandemic-driven flight from downtowns shows no signs of fully reversing, the global consulting firm found in research focusing on nine “superstar cities” such as San Francisco, Paris and Shanghai. In a moderate scenario, it expects median demand for office space to decline 13 per cent from 2019 to 2030, and nine per cent less demand for retail space, with the value of real estate plunging as a result. (The Logic)

Talking point: Flexibility is the key to responding, McKinsey advised. Cities with big knowledge-industry workforces and whose cores are dense with offices but light on housing are most at risk. Mixed-use developments in both cores and suburbs will make for more resilient cities, and buildings that include multiple uses (and that can be adapted to different ones) will be better investments, the firm said. In Canada, pension funds have begun divesting some prominent downtown holdings.