At differing scales: the commonalities between green leasing and urban FM from the perspectives of sustainable urban development projects

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to look at what Urban Facilities Management (FM) and Green Leasing have in common and the degree to which they are ultimately reliant on one another. Whilst both are similar in terms of their placement in organizational management, Green Leasing is a building level concept whilst Urban FM is at the community level. The primary purpose of this paper is to show how the commonalities of both can strengthen one another and offer tangible possibilities to improve the sustainable credentials of urban development projects. Design/methodology/approach This study will be conducted with a mixed-methods approach. Firstly, a literature study will determine the commonalities between both concepts, and the degree to which they rely on one another to work effectively in projects. The second method will be a cross-sectional case study. Using existing cases that use both (either implicitly or explicitly), the study can demonstrate how these commonalities and reliabilities can offer tangible outputs to real work projects. These will then be combined in a case study to demonstrate many of these aspects in a real-world setting. Findings The finding demonstrates that there are commonalities between Green Leasing and Urban FM at all levels of organizational management and that the success of both requires holistic consideration of each other, as well as other aspects such as FM and citizen participation. The success and failure of projects are depending upon considering these aspects. By not considering the buildings and community levels as separation aspects, but more as different levels of the same project, multi-level considerations can contribute to the success of urban development projects. Originality/value The commonalities between Urban FM and Green Leasing are profound and do not just show the value of holistic thinking, but also the inclusion of other considerations such as FM to reduce project failure and long-term project viability. This can add value to the study of not just Urban FM and Green Leasing, but also FM more generally, architectural design and urban planning.