Sustainable Cities Fund
Our fund takes a comprehensive approach toward investing in building a more sustainable, livable, and affordable future in every city around the world.
Opportunity Overview
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities And Communities
More than half of us live in cities. By 2050, two-thirds of all humanity—6.5 billion people—will be urban. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our urban spaces.
The rapid growth of cities—a result of rising populations and increasing migration—has led to a boom in mega-cities, especially in the developing world, and slums are becoming a more significant feature of urban life.
Making cities sustainable means creating career and business opportunities, safe and affordable housing, and building resilient societies and economies. It involves investment in public transport, creating green public spaces, and improving urban planning and management in participatory and inclusive ways.
Demand for new purpose-built student accommodation across Sub-Saharan Africa is set to exceed 500,000 beds over the next five years. Given public sector budget constraints, the private sector will have an important role to play in meeting this demand.
Facts and figures
4.2 billion
In 2018, 4.2 billion people, 55 percent of the world’s population, lived in cities. By 2050, the urban population is expected to reach 6.5 billion.
3%
Cities occupy just 3 percent of the Earth’s land but account for 60 to 80 percent of energy consumption and at least 70 percent of carbon emissions.
828 million
828 million people are estimated to live in slums, and the number is rising.
33
In 1990, there were 10 cities with 10 million people or more; by 2014, the number of mega-cities rose to 28 and was expected to reach 33 by 2018. In the future, 9 out of 10 mega-cities will be in the developing world.
90%
In the coming decades, 90 percent of urban expansion will be in the developing world.
80%
The economic role of cities is significant. They generate about 80 percent of the global GDP.
Sustainable Cities
Investment Strategy
Our vision is a world where all cities can access the investment they need to build implement vital sustainable infrastructure and achieve their ambitious climate goals – limiting global temperature rise and improving the lives of their citizens both today and for generations to come.
Investment windows set up in this area would include investment in companies and projects that are creating innovative mechanisms to address the challenges of sustainable urban development faced by partner countries.
This could include a range of priority investment areas open to private sector investment falling within the municipal infrastructure sectors of sustainable and smart urban mobility, water, sanitation, waste management, food supply, circular economy and nature-based solutions, air quality, renewable energy services, and energy efficiency, while mitigating and adapting to climate change, building urban resilience and building affordable housing.
NEOS Impact Developments is focused on building projects with partners to meet the demand from cities in the coming years to 2030. Our first focus area is Sustainable Student Housing Africa, where we are creating a pan African Student housing development company to meet this burgeoning demand as cities urbanise and the populations seek more higher education.
Student Housing Africa
Unlike developed markets, there are many large city markets that are underserved in Sub-Sahara Africa. This presents a valuable first-mover advantage for NEOS Impact.
NEOS Impact together with partners have created Africa focused housing development, investment, and operating vehicle to seize upon the many opportunities that others may have not yet appreciated. The initial focus is on student housing.
Globally, this sector has delivered a stable and secure income which grows ahead of inflation. Strong demand for well-managed, purpose-built student accommodation is reflected in high occupancy rates. The multi-tenant nature of student housing minimizes default risk and the magnitude of potential default.
We see the Sub-Saharan African student housing market at an early stage of its evolution into a bona fide asset class that could over time match those in the developed markets.
City Infrastructure
The need to change the way cities look feel and operate is not a modern innovation. We look to invest in companies, infrastructure projects, and technologies that reimagine cities to improve the quality of life of each cities sustainability. We believe that urban innovations, building techniques, and technology can help.
Our fund takes a comprehensive approach toward investing in building a more sustainable, livable, and affordable future in every city around the world.