MIPIM
{{Short description|Annual real estate event held in Cannes, France}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2023}}
File:Cannes Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.jpg
MIPIM (from the French: Le Marché international des professionnels de l'immobilier) is a four-day property and real estate trade show held annually in March at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. Drawing thousands of international attendees to the French Riviera, it has become a major event in the property industry, but has also been criticised for its extravagance and sleaze. A sister event, MIPIM Asia, is held annually in Hong Kong.
History
Organised by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Reed Exhibitions (today RELX), the event was first held in March 1990,{{cite news |title=MIPIM Over the Years |url=https://www.cctinvestments.com/mipim-over-the-years/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=CCT Investments |date=25 March 2016}}{{cite news |last1=O'Keeffe |first1=Jennifer |title=MIPIM: What is the real estate event and who attends? |url=https://www.insidermedia.com/news/national/mipim-what-is-the-real-estate-event |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Insider Media |date=11 March 2024}} and then attracted 2,950 attendees and 830 companies from more than 22 countries. The MIPIM Awards were instituted in 1991 and the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards started in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://akichiatlas.com/en/archives/mipim_future_project09.php|title=MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards 2009|publisher=Architectural Review|accessdate=2009-09-16}} By 2009, MIPIM had become an established annual event where property developers, cities and local authorities could meet with potential real estate investors; in 2018, while noting the event always attracted "tycoons keen to party on lavish yachts", the Financial Times also noted the attendance of Homes England, the Department for Homes, Communities and Local Government and the British Property Federation.{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Aime |title=Government and developers come together at property jamboree |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1fba6e44-2933-11e8-b27e-cc62a39d57a0 |access-date=11 December 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=18 March 2018}}
The event features some {{convert|20,000|sqm}} of exhibition space, a conference programme, numerous official and unofficial networking events, and an awards event featuring several categories of architectural projects. Spin-off events have also been held in other locations (for example, in London in 2014{{cite news |last1=Wainwright |first1=Oliver |title=Protests disrupt property fair in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/15/protests-mipim-property-fair-london |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Guardian |date=15 October 2014}} and 2016,{{cite news |last1=Baxter |first1=Holly |title=Voices All the sickening things insiders told me about MIPIM, the London conference for property magnates |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/mipim-housing-crisis-markets-insiders-what-they-say-london-conference-property-magnates-a7369621.html |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Independent |date=19 October 2016}} New York City in 2023),{{cite news |last1=Russo |first1=Philip |title=MIPIM Propel Becomes MIPIM NY |url=https://commercialobserver.com/2023/03/mipim-ny/ |access-date=11 December 2024 |work=Commercial Observer |date=3 March 2023}} with MIPIM Asia in Hong Kong also an annual event.{{cite web |title=What is MIPIM Asia Summit? |url=https://www.mipim-asia.com/en-gb.html#/ |website=MIPIM Asia |publisher=MIPIM |access-date=11 December 2024}}
In February 2020, MIPIM organisers postponed the event to June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,{{cite news |last1=Fairs |first1=Marcus |title=MIPIM property fair postponed until June over coronavirus fears |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/29/mipim-property-fair-postponed-until-june-over-coronavirus-fears/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Dezeen |date=29 February 2020}} before eventually cancelling it altogether. The 2021 edition was also cancelled due to the pandemic. MIPIM resumed in 2022.{{cite news |last1=Ford |first1=Coreena |last2=Finch |first2=Hannah |title=MIPIM 2022: Who is going to the international property conference and what to expect |url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/commercial-property/mipim-2022-who-going-international-23348750 |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=BusinessLive |date=10 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Mike |title=Lower Numbers, Less Partying, But MIPIM Sees Real Estate Shrug Off Hazards |url=https://www.bisnow.com/london/news/commercial-real-estate/lower-numbers-less-partying-but-mipim-sees-real-estate-shrug-off-hazards-112295 |access-date=11 December 2024 |work=Bisnow |date=17 March 2022}} According to the organisers, the 2023 event attracted over 22,500 delegates from 90 countries, including 6,500 investors from 76 of the top 100 investment managers.{{cite web |title=MIPIM invites young professionals to challenge the real estate industry |url=https://www.mipim.com/content/dam/sitebuilder/rm/mipim/2024/press/MIPIM%20invites%20young%20professionals%20to%20challenge%20the%20real%20estate%20industry.pdf.coredownload.946967007.pdf |website=MIPIM |publisher=MIPIM |access-date=12 December 2024}} In 2024, 6,000 of the event's 21,000 delegates were from the UK, with London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Belfast supporting a UK stage.{{cite news |last1=Delahunty |first1=Stephen |title=Dispatches from MIPIM 2024 |url=https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/dispatches-from-mipim-2024-85643 |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=Inside Housing |date=15 March 2024}} In 2025, the Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan led a team seeking £22bn of investments in 20 key projects.{{cite news |last1=Mercer |first1=Karl |title=Sir Sadiq Khan in Cannes to 'bang drum for London' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gdkl7z3g4o |access-date=10 March 2025 |work=BBC News |date=10 March 2025}}
Criticism
However, the cost of attending MIPIM in Cannes, and what some have regarded as excessive networking and socialising, have come in for criticism. For example, amid UK public sector spending constraints, the cost of sending local authority representatives to Cannes has been attacked by councillors in Belfast{{cite news |last1=Kenwood |first1=Michael |title=Controversial Cannes property conference sparks row among Belfast City Council |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/controversial-cannes-property-conference-sparks-row-among-belfast-city-council/41825732.html |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=8 July 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Kenwood |first1=Michael |title=Belfast councillors clash over attendance at south of France property conference |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/belfast-councillors-clash-over-attendance-29778611 |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=20 August 2024}} and Dudley.{{cite news |last1=Storer |first1=Rhi |title=Dudley Council 'could have lost £400,000 of taxpayer’s money over Cannes conference' |url=https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/dudley/2023/04/12/dudley-council-could-have-lost-as-much-as-400000-of-taxpayers-money-to-attend-a-global-property-conference-in-france-according-to-leaked-document/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Express & Star |date=12 April 2023}}{{cite news |title=Calls for inquiry over £100k Dudley Council France trip |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-67782222 |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=BBC News |date=21 December 2023}} In 2014, The Guardian said it had a reputation as "a champagne-soaked jamboree where local authority chiefs are wined and dined by investors".{{cite news |last1=Wainwright |first1=Oliver |title=Anger at Cannes property fair where councils rub shoulders with oligarchs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/14/anger-cannes-property-fair-councils-developers-mipim |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Guardian |date=14 March 2024}}
In 2018, MIPIM delegates' use of prostitutes was highlighted{{cite news |last1=Hatcher |first1=David |date=24 March 2016 |title=Not the property industry’s finest hour |url=https://www.egi.co.uk/news/not-the-property-industrys-finest-hour/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=EGI}} (also noted by a Construction News journalist in 2001: "as a naïve young reporter, I was amazed to see a list of the best brothels in town contained within the unofficial, but widely distributed, event guide").{{cite news |last1=Marrs |first1=Colin |title=MIPIM sums up a changed industry |url=https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/sections/long-reads/opinion/mipim-sums-up-a-changed-industry-27-03-2024/ |access-date=11 December 2024 |work=Construction News |issue=27 March 2024}} In 2018, after the London Presidents Club scandal had revealed the "sleazy underbelly" of the property industry, MIPIM organisers issued a 'code of conduct' forbidding businessmen from bringing prostitutes to its conference and exhibitions,{{cite news |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonty |title=Cannes property show accused of sleaze and sexism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43215804 |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=BBC News |date=27 February 2018}} and several organisations including Coutts, HSBC and Bank of America Merrill Lynch withdrew their MIPIM delegations.{{cite news |last1=Neate |first1=Rupert |title=Presidents Club scandal casts shade over 'sleazy' property industry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/16/presidents-club-scandal-casts-shade-over-sleazy-property-industry |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Guardian |date=16 March 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Aime |last2=Allen |first2=Kate |title=Property executives dominate at men-only Presidents Club dinner |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e276bad8-0128-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5 |access-date=7 December 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=24 January 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Mairs |first1=Jessica |title=World's biggest property event criticised for response to Presidents Club scandal |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2018/01/31/mipim-property-industry-event-criticised-presidents-club-scandal-news/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Dezeen |date=31 August 2018}} The male-dominated and sometimes sexist culture of the event has also been criticised.{{cite news |title=It’s lads lads lads at MIPIM and that’s the way we like it |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/its-lads-lads-lads-at-mipim-and-thats-the-way-we-like-it |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Architects' Journal |date=15 March 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Kay |title=A woman's view of Mipim |url=https://www.bdonline.co.uk/briefing/a-womans-view-of-mipim/5092740.article |access-date=11 December 2024 |work=Building Design |date=23 March 2018}}
References
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External links
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- {{Official|https://www.mipim.com/en-gb.html}}