Rasmus Nørgaard on 'Sustainable Urban Real Estate Development'

Real estate sits at the intersection of the climate crisis, the housing crisis, and rising inequality. In this keynote lecture, Rasmus Nørgaard explores how the sector can transform from being part of the problem to part of the solution where real estate is both sustainable, inclusive, and profitable. Drawing on over 20 years of experience, Rasmus introduces Home.Earth, a real estate company rooted in Doughnut Economics and the initiator of the manual Doughnut for Urban Development. He demonstrates how innovation, industrialization and business design are essential to deliver great homes that people can afford and the planet can sustain. By rethinking how we design, build, and operate residential real estate, Home.Earth shows how long-term value creation, social equity, and operating within planetary limits can align. This lecture challenges conventional real estate models and offers an actionable vision for urban communities that are livable, regenerative, and resilient for generations to come. Rasmus Nørgaard is the 2025 Robert Garland Treseder Fellow at the Faculty of Architecture, Building, and Planning. This Fellowship enables artists, business innovators, designers, policy leaders, start-ups, architects, and scholars dedicated to the development and promotion of design-based innovation to visit Melbourne. We are grateful for the generous ongoing support of the Robert Garland Treseder Fellowship.