City and real estate leaders from around the world volunteer to develop new models

With major elections approaching, France remains the leading country in terms of visitor numbers, ahead of the United Kingdom and Germany. The first edition of the Destination France program, with its specific highlights—the France Press Conference, the Territories Forum, and conferences dedicated to investment in France—provided an opportunity to showcase French stakeholders and projects to international leaders, as well as their ability to build coalitions.

Residential and commercial real estate were the focus of dedicated sessions aimed at finding solutions, with political and economic leaders demonstrating a strong commitment to sharing best practices with Housing Matters! These sessions included dedicated areas for converting offices into housing and numerous presentations of mixed-use projects. Other asset classes also featured specific sessions, such as data centers – with the two-day Data Center Summit – and hotel assets – with the HTL Connexion space for hotel, tourism, and leisure activities, which has doubled in size this year.

MIPIM 2027 will take place from March 15 to 19, 2027 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. MIPIM Middle East will be held on October 20 and 21, 2026 in Riyadh, and MIPIM Asia on December 2 and 3, 2026 in Hong Kong.

Key highlights of MIPIM 2026

Housing Matters! March 9: Record attendance at the opening of MIPIM

The summit dedicated to housing attracted thousands of leaders from around the world (+50% compared to the 2025 edition), the French Minister of Housing, European mayors, architects, investors and developers... with the common observation of a global crisis and the firm will to find solutions.

Press conference in France on March 10: 9 exclusive announcements for the sector and future French projects

For its second edition, this sequence dedicated to French announcements highlighted developments in the sector (off-site, regulation), new asset classes and new uses, two major projects on AI and digital, large-scale transformation projects.

Territories Forum on March 11: international testimonials to inspire new forms of public-private cooperation in France

A selection of 100 French leaders, inspired by testimonies from New York, Montreal, London, Lodź, wish to develop “placemaking” to improve the design, transformation and animation of public spaces in France.

Data Centers Summit on March 11th and 12th: the new asset class in vogue

The MIPIM Data Centers Summit confirmed the strategic role of data centers in digital and territorial transformation. Driven by the rise of AI, the topic raises issues related to land use, energy, and local acceptance. Their development requires more integrated planning between public and private stakeholders and local communities.

MIPIM Awards: 3 French projects among the 11 winners

Three projects located in Paris are among the winners of the MIPIM Awards 2026, confirming the dynamism and innovative capacity of the French real estate scene. The French architecture firm PCA-STREAM stands out in particular with two awards this year, after having already been recognized at the 2019 edition.

Housing Matters! brought together more than 1700 leaders: global housing stakeholders seeking to share best practices and experiences.

For its third edition, Housing Matters! brought together political leaders, investors, developers, local authorities, associations and urban experts to rethink the basics of housing: exploring supply and demand trends, developing collaborative solutions for affordable housing, designing new models adapted to current needs, and sharing innovative visions for the housing of tomorrow.

Sharing solutions to the international housing crisis

The director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Anacláudia Rossbach, did not hesitate to speak of an "international housing crisis" at the opening of MIPIM in Cannes. She called for collaboration between public authorities and the private sector to find solutions, emphasizing that "governments cannot solve this problem alone; the private sector will have to contribute."

The French housing minister is calling for the “Housing Olympics”

Invited to the Housing Matters summit on Monday, March 9, Vincent Jeanbrun said he considered himself “the minister of the housing crisis rather than the minister of housing.” He reiterated the government's housing production targets—2 million units by 2030—based on three pillars: restoring confidence among households and institutional investors in rental property investment, simplifying regulations to lower construction costs, and scaling up renovations.

Just days before the municipal elections, he also announced plans to create local interest projects with zones that local elected officials can define to accelerate construction, based on the model inspired by the Paris 2024 Games. The minister was able to exchange ideas with his European and international counterparts during bilateral meetings, notably highlighting his inspiration from the Canadian model for a new rental lease to simplify moving into a home (without guarantors, for example) but where the landlord will be able to more easily evict their tenant in the event of excessive non-payment.

Destination France: the French are working together to showcase their projects and territories to the world.

Launched this year, the Destination France program showcased 180 conferences and networking sessions at MIPIM. French stakeholders—businesses and regions—were able to present their ambitions and expertise in urban development to international partners and forge strong alliances for their projects. Several particularly noteworthy events punctuated the week.

The Grand Paris tent brings together public and private stakeholders in the same space.

For the first time, public actors and communities shared the Grand Paris tent with private actors, creating new synergies and opportunities to promote actors and announcements through the Business Immo platform.

Invest in France

The session highlighted the fundamentals that continue to make France the leading European destination for foreign investment and a benchmark real estate market in 2026. Speakers emphasized several key strengths: the robust financial ecosystem, the relative stability of the energy supply, the size of the consumer market, renowned hospitality, and strong European interconnectivity. However, this positive assessment was accompanied by a clear call for greater transparency: despite the improved investment conditions driven by public authorities, international stakeholders still point to regulatory complexity, permitting delays, the need for local political support, and the ambiguity of certain French and European standards, all of which influence investment decisions. In this context, discussions also welcomed the progress made in public-private dialogue, exemplified by the creation in February 2025 of a task force dedicated to data centers.

The Territories Forum

For the past four years, the Elected Officials Forum brought together a selection of 100 elected officials and leaders from the public and private sectors for a four-hour closed-door session. Just days before the municipal elections, this now-essential MIPIM event has evolved into the Territories Forum, retaining the same format but bringing together other types of public actors and local government leaders: public administrative establishments (EPA), local public companies (SPL), mixed-economy companies (SEM), and urban planning and development departments of cities and metropolitan areas.

This year, "placemaking" was at the heart of discussions with the question "how to finance the management, animation and programming of public spaces?" Participants were able to listen to international testimonies highlighting solutions that have proven successful in bringing about new economic and public-private governance models to serve the attractiveness, aesthetics and vitality of cities.

The heads of the State Property Directorate, Paris La Défense, Grand Paris Aménagement, Bordeaux Métropole, Groupama Immobilier, AREP, and Atelier Franck Boutté were able to share their experiences and proposals for developing placemaking in France. This event was organized in partnership with UNAM (Union of Urban Planners), Villes de France, and France Urbaine.

France press conference

Off-site construction is scaling up two years after the creation of the industry association.

Two years after its creation, Filière Hors Site France (French Off-Site Construction Network) brings together 150 construction stakeholders to accelerate the deployment of off-site construction in housing, prisons, developing areas, and renovation projects. In two years, 6.000 buildings and 60.000 housing units have been built or renovated, with capacity expected to double within five years. Initial results confirm time savings of 30 to 50%, a 10% improvement in project profitability, and the achievement of thresholds 28 or 31 of the RE2020 regulation without additional costs.

By Céline Beaujolin, Stephan de Fay and Laurent Girometti.

The National Council of the Order of Architects wants to create a "single building permit"

The National Council of the Order of Architects (CNOA) proposes consolidating the authorizations currently processed under building permits and prior declarations into a single procedure. The aim is to simplify access to building permits while placing renovation and building quality at the heart of the urban planning code. This change will require regulatory and legislative adjustments, which could be included in the upcoming draft law on simplification.

By Christophe Millet and Marjan Hessamfar.

Paris La Défense unveils the consortium selected for the Rives Défense project

Paris La Défense has selected the RSHP Architects and Urban Planners consortium to design the future of Rives Défense, an approximately 8-hectare site located on the historical axis, facing the Seine. The project aims to open the district to the river, reconnect it to the natural landscape, and develop new uses to enhance its mixed-use character, incorporating residential, hotel, leisure, and retail spaces. The RSHP team includes Atelier SOIL, ARCADIS, Atelier Franck Boutté, Urban Eco, and Mobius.

By Pierre-Yves Guice and Stephen Barrett.

Groupama Immobilier will open the House of AI in La Défense

Groupama Immobilier will transform the Le Diamant building in La Défense into a temporary hub dedicated to artificial intelligence, offering below-market rents to foster an ecosystem bringing together startups, investment funds, AI centers, training organizations, and public sector stakeholders. Conceived as a stepping stone before the site's conversion into housing, the project aims to firmly establish AI in Europe's leading business district. The opening is planned for October 2026, following two calls for expressions of interest for the operator and future tenants.

By Roland Cubin.

“La Plateforme” will open in Marseille the largest campus dedicated to the social and solidarity economy and digital technology in France

Led by Cyril Zimmermann and co-financed by the ANRU (National Agency for Urban Renewal) and Meridiam to the tune of €65 million, La Plateforme will accommodate 3.000 students in a 25.000 m² space at the entrance to Marseille's northern districts. The campus combines education, culture, and community engagement, notably featuring cultural spaces, a branch of the Cinémathèque Française (French Cinematheque), an art-house cinema, a 350-seat restaurant, and a 220-bed student residence. The project aims to create a vibrant community hub serving the local area and its residents.

By Corinne Bertone and Cyril Zimmermann.

A 26-hectare business park is set to be built in Greater Avignon

The GSE Group announces the operational launch of NaturaParc in Entraigues-sur-la-Sorgue, a 26-hectare business park primarily dedicated to production and industrial activities, with a strong focus on the natural products sector. The site will include 18 hectares of available land and will ultimately allow for the development of approximately 76.000 m² of floor space. A new milestone has been reached with the creation of a joint venture between GSE and 6e Sens Immobilier, and the acquisition of the land from the Greater Avignon area.

By Roland Paul.

The future users of BPM, at 126 rue de Rivoli, are inventing a new model of mixed programming

Redevco is redeveloping 126 Rivoli into a 13.000 m² complex encompassing retail, offices, urban logistics, a Radisson Collection hotel, a gourmet restaurant, and a green rooftop terrace. To foster this mix of uses, Interface and Workman have been commissioned to organize concrete synergies between occupants, from shared services to the equitable redistribution of unsold goods and equipment. The project aims to create a unique collective dynamic at the building and neighborhood levels.

By Cécile Pouzadoux.

Foncière Concorde is reinventing a Parisian block with the first Mix hotel in France

Foncière Concorde is launching the transformation of a former 1920s garage on Rue Lamarck in Paris into a 13.500 m² hybrid development combining a 4-star hotel, sports and wellness facilities, housing, and urban logistics. Designed by DATA Architectes, the project retains a large part of the existing structure to reduce its carbon footprint and open up this long-isolated block to the city. It will house the first French location of the hybrid hospitality brand Mix, scheduled to open in 2029.

By Brice Errera and Corentin Poels.

Nexity will develop a new 20.000 m2 district on the Quai de la Gironde in Paris.

On the former site of the EMSALEM butcher shops, near the Jardins de la Villette, Nexity is developing a new district of nearly 20.000 m² combining 206 apartments, a food court, shops, a daycare center, a drama school, a gym, and coworking spaces. The project will preserve and renovate the existing suburban buildings as well as several markers of the site's industrial history, representing 38% of the plot. New buildings will complete the development, maintaining architectural continuity with the existing structures.

By Fabrice Aubert and Thierry Cahierre.

New players, new technologies, new asset classes, new uses, new geographies: MIPIM is a synthesis of global real estate

The world's largest funds responded positively, and family offices are finding their footing.

At MIPIM 2026, the presence of the world's largest capital holders confirmed the show's role as a central meeting place between real estate and global capital. Institutional investors included several sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and major long-term investors such as Australian Retirement Trust Aware Super, Blackrock, Blackstone, CPPIB, GIC, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, Korea Investment Corporation, Norges Bank Investment Management, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, PGGM, QuadReal, Temasek, and the World Bank Pension Fund, at an event that brings together 70% of the world's top 100 investment managers, representing over €4000 trillion in assets. The novelty of this edition lies in the rise of family offices, with the launch of the RE-Family Summit, a new closed-door format dedicated to international family offices and institutional investors, designed to promote high-level exchanges and strategic discussions on real estate allocation in developed and emerging markets.

Many political leaders were present

MIPIM 2026 also brought together very high-ranking public and institutional officials to discuss the major challenges of the city, housing, urban planning and the attractiveness of territories. Among them were Vincent Jeanbrun, Minister for Urban Policy and Housing in France; James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Authorities and Heritage in Ireland; Judith Nabakooba, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Uganda; Khalfan Al Shueili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning of Oman; Iñaqui Carnicero, Secretary General for Urban Agenda, Housing and Architecture in Spain; Orsolya-Maria Kover, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Development of Romania; Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission; Fahad Alhashem, Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia; Anaclaudia Rossbach, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat; José Tonato, Minister for Living Environment and Sustainable Development of Benin; and Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg. as well as several major European mayors such as Karin Wanngård in Stockholm, José Luis Martínez-Almeida in Madrid, Andy Burnham for Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram for Liverpool, Roberto Gualtieri in Rome, Sisse Marie Berendt Welling in Copenhagen, Heida Björg Hilmisdóttir in Reykjavík, Carlos Moedas in Lisbon, Viesturs Kleinbergs in Riga, Jules Pipe for Greater London, and Christian Gaebler in Berlin. This strong presence confirmed MIPIM's role as a leading forum for dialogue between public decision-makers, international institutions, and private stakeholders on major urban transformations.

Philippe Aghion, Nobel laureate in economics, places MIPIM under the banner of AI

French economist Philippe Aghion, the 2025 Nobel laureate in economics, opened the conference with a focus on AI and innovation. He revisited the application of his model of creative destruction, theorized in a seminal 1992 article, which posits that growth arises from the constant renewal of the economy: certain activities or asset classes must disappear to allow new generations of innovators to emerge. According to him, the rise of AI illustrates this paradigm shift in growth: by accelerating productivity gains and business efficiency, it paves the way for new sectors of activity, skills, and ultimately, new jobs. Its return on investment is massive and still underestimated.

Beyond technological innovation, the economist emphasized the importance of a robust institutional framework to support this transition. Prosperity, he argued, hinges on a balance between innovation, driven by businesses, and institutions capable of fostering competition and guaranteeing social protection. Faced with the risk of monopolies by AI giants, he called for preserving a dynamic environment conducive to the emergence of new players. The challenge also lies in education: in a world where automation is transforming jobs, training programs must develop adaptability, entrepreneurial skills, and the capacity for lifelong learning. Optimistic about the AI ​​revolution and Europe's positioning in this market, he concluded ironically: "The day I become obsolete, my theory will be validated."

Data Centers Summit

A new addition to MIPIM, the Data Centers Summit has established itself as a key event dedicated to one of the most strategic infrastructures for urban and economic transformation. Driven by the rise of AI, cloud computing, 5G, and digitalization more broadly, this summit brought together investors, developers, operators, technology experts, and public stakeholders around a common challenge: translating the explosion of digital usage into concrete real estate, industrial, and territorial projects. The program confirmed that the issue is no longer solely technical, but fundamentally urban, political, and economic.

The discussions revealed that not all data centers operate according to the same logic: between edge data centers, colocation sites, end-user infrastructures, and hyperscale facilities, the needs, impacts, and models differ significantly. The rise of artificial intelligence is also changing scale, with 100 MW projects bearing little resemblance to previous generations. In this context, participants emphasized the need to consider territorial factors, linking land use, electrical connections, and environmental impact. The Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Area, in particular, shared its work in synthesizing the perspectives of the 92 municipalities within its territory, addressing the challenge of local project acceptance and ensuring economic sovereignty over the issue.

Cross-perspectives on global business districts

Seven leaders and stakeholders from business districts, including Pierre-Yves Guice, CEO of Paris La Défense, met at the Greater Paris pavilion. In Chicago, London, Liverpool, Toronto, Casablanca, and Oman, new methods of coordinating public and private investments and urban transformation projects at the local level are emerging. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) were repeatedly cited as tools for transforming city centers, capable of mobilizing public and private actors around shared objectives of attractiveness, quality of public spaces, and economic development.

Major projects announced internationally

In the UK, several projects have clearly emerged. In London, the 85 Gracechurch Street project has been one of the most discussed: this 30-story mixed-use tower of approximately 235.000 sq ft had to be redesigned to preserve the remains of the first Roman basilica at Londinium, which will be incorporated into a future public archaeological exhibition. The project was explicitly presented as one of the developments being discussed at the London booth at MIPIM.

Still in the UK, Liverpool City Region arrived in Cannes with an £11 billion pipeline of investment opportunities. Among the most significant projects are King Edward Triangle, a mixed-use development worth approximately £1 billion on 8 acres facing the waterfront, as well as HEMISPHERE One, Health Innovation Liverpool, and Project Violet Phase Two. The King Edward Triangle project even had its own dedicated event within the MIPIM program, a sign that it was one of the key highlights of the event.

In Poland, the message sent at MIPIM 2026 was less about a single megaproject and more about a coordinated offensive by cities. The official program included a session dedicated to investment opportunities in Poland around the Katowice/Silesia metropolitan area, with a focus on innovation, talent, and attractiveness. Meanwhile, Poznań came to Cannes with a portfolio of 16 investment opportunities covering residential, commercial, industrial, and logistics projects, with a central argument: urban planning security, as 13 of the 16 sites are already covered by local plans.

At the Albania pavilion, around one hundred projects were presented, ranging from residential complexes to tourist resorts, with a strong desire to position the country as a new destination for real estate investment.

Saudi Arabia primarily highlighted a new phase of openness to international investors, spearheaded by Invest Saudi, with the presentation of numerous investment opportunities and the promotion of the new law now allowing non-Saudis to acquire residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural assets in designated areas. On the project front, two major developments stood out in Cannes: New Dammam, a 344 million square foot mixed-use coastal city representing a $26 billion investment, and King Salman Park in Riyadh, a vast 17 km² urban regeneration project combining parkland, housing, hotels, offices, and cultural facilities. For the latter, the project developers were expected to announce new investment packages in Cannes with a combined value of $3,85 billion, confirming Saudi Arabia's ambition to make MIPIM an international showcase for its real estate and urban strategy linked to Vision 2030.