A city on a mission to Smart: WiredScore’s launch in Hong Kong

The last time I was in Hong Kong was pre-pandemic in 2019 when Hong Kong was thriving as the leading financial hub in Asia and a popular tourist destination. The hustle and bustle of Central Hong Kong were not lost on me then, and I’m pleased to say that the fast-paced energy in the city still remains today.

Hong Kong’s unique culture gripped us the moment we stepped off the plane – demonstrating that it is not only possible to merge the old and the new but to do so in a strategic and purposeful way. As we explored the central business district after days packed with client meetings and site visits, we were enthralled by the rate at which the city was evolving, and the people with it.

After a challenging few years, Hong Kong is re-emerging with purpose and determination. As the pandemic travel restrictions slowly relax and the city begins to host noteworthy international events again – such as the recent investment summit and the Hong Kong Sevens tournament – Hong Kong is sending the message to the world that it’s back open for business.

Yet, there remain hurdles to overcome. Hong Kong has seen an exodus of talent and the relocation of some international businesses to competing cities like Singapore. So, how can Hong Kong regain its footing as a key global hub?

On 23rd November 2022, we celebrated WiredScore’s launch in Hong Kong, our second market in Asia. During the evening we discussed the current challenges and opportunities ahead for Hong Kong and, importantly, how the real estate industry can play an important role in ensuring Hong Kong reaffirms its global competitive position.

At the event, attendees enjoyed a fireside chat between Tiffany Lau, Executive Director & Head of Urban Ecosystems at JLL, and WiredScore’s Thomasin Crowley, followed by a panel discussion with Swire Properties’ Don Taylor, Henderson Land’s Kristine Li, Standard Chartered’s Lerrence Chiu, and Arup’s Sankar V S, moderated by Cushman & Wakefield’s Rosanna Tang. From these discussions, 3 major themes stood out to me:

1. The responsibility of the private sector in shaping the next iteration of Hong Kong
2. The need to make Hong Kong’s real estate work harder, creating shared value for Hong Kong’s communities
3. The important role of smart buildings in creating user-centric and sustainable spaces to both bring people back to the office and to attract significant global occupiers to Hong Kong

To reestablish Hong Kong’s global competitiveness and attract people back to Hong Kong, private sector leaders have to create better infrastructure for Hong Kong’s people. This not only means ensuring high-quality healthcare, better transport links, and better housing, but goes even further: a full rejuvenation of Hong Kong’s built environment to ensure it serves Hong Kong’s people and communities, and meets their ever-evolving needs.

During the fireside chat, Tiffany Lau drew parallels to New York City’s rejuvenation in the decades following 9/11, the 2008 financial crash, and Hurricane Sandy, and the important role of revitalization projects such as The High Line and Hudson Yards. Tiffany urged landlords and developers to take a more holistic approach to placemaking to create more shared value, not only opening up spaces within their buildings to communities but importantly investing beyond their ‘four walls’ to strengthen and revive Hong Kong. She raised;

The panelists continued on the theme of making Hong Kong’s real estate ‘work harder’ for the city’s people and communities, highlighting the important role of technology in this rejuvenation.

Lerrence Chui from Standard Chartered highlighted technology as a key enabler in creating an experience worth coming back for – ‘half the space, twice the experience’ – facilitating personalization, a ‘hotelification’ of services, and the adaptation of space to individual and company needs.

Don Taylor from Swire Properties reinforced this, highlighting the digital initiatives Swire has undertaken to both make people feel safe returning to work (from live air quality monitoring to touchless technologies), and provide a more convenient experience than they can access at home (seamless connectivity and a full range of community offerings, from health & wellbeing classes, to events, F&B, and more).

The technologies that power this experience are not new. We’re in an age of implementation in which we have got to leverage the available technologies to create and collect useful data for continual optimization. As Sankar V S from Arup emphasized, by utilizing data we can continually adapt our spaces to users and make them more efficient, more sustainable, and more resilient to future change. Kristine Li from Henderson Land added the example of The Henderson’s digital twin, which monitors and reports live on energy usage (amongst many other features) and shares this data with tenants to incentivize better eco-conscious habits.

In this context, WiredScore’s entry into Hong Kong is timely.

Our mission is to make the world’s buildings smarter and better connected and we’re delighted to already be working with 5 leading Hong Kong landlords – Swire Properties, Henderson Land Group, Nan Fung Group, Sun Hung Kai Properties, plus a joint venture between Sino Group and Empire Group – who are committed to providing best-in-class digitally connected and smart-enabled buildings, fit for significant global occupiers.

With our 11 Accredited Professional Partner organizations onboard (Arup, Cundall, WSP, Synergy, JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Neuron Digital, Negawatt, NV5, and essensys), I look forward to supporting the Hong Kong real estate community in navigating the journey ahead.

Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial energy, determination, and innovative spirit lives on. I left feeling inspired and excited to be working at WiredScore, serving Hong Kong’s real estate community to ensure that their buildings are fully leveraging technology to deliver the best outcomes for their users: Hong Kong’s people.