There is a game-changing shift underway in real estate. New research reveals how walkable urban places and projects will drive tomorrow’s real estate industry and the economy and what actions are needed to take advantage of these market trends.

What was perceived as a niche market is becoming the market. This research takes a deep look at Washington, D.C., a national pioneer in walkable urban places, to identify where development has and will take place—and the economic and social impact it will have.

This research challenges real estate developers, investors, regulators, managers, academics and citizens to rethink the way we manage the 35 percent of our nation’s wealth that is invested in real estate and infrastructure, the built environment. This is an important recalibration that affects how most of us live, work and are entertained. To ignore this structural change would be akin to ignoring the impact roads and cars had on the built environment more than a half-century ago.

This new research defines—for the first time—where most existing WalkUPs are in the metropolitan D.C. region. It shows specific locations, the physical size of the places, the product mix, the transportation options and so forth.

This study then ranks performance for these WalkUPs, based on two criteria: economics and social equity. The economic performance metrics help determine where different kinds of investors should put their capital and how these WalkUPs stack up against one another. The social equity performance metrics demonstrate whether a broad cross-section of metropolitan residents can live in or have transit access to WalkUPs.