In 2018, Joan Ronner and Gijs Liu saw a unique opportunity in the real estate market: connecting residents with each other and with property owners to improve the liveability of residential areas.


Gijs: "Property investors and housing associations are facing major challenges, such as the declining social cohesion in neighbourhoods, climate change and rising costs. Challenges you can only solve if you work together with residents and local partners. However, we saw that there was a lack of dialogue between all stakeholders about improvements in the living environment."


Joan and Gijs saw huge potential in resident engagement. When residents are connected and involved in the living environment, it has a direct impact on social cohesion and liveability.


Joan: "People like to live and work in an enjoyable place where they feel at home. They know very well what is needed to achieve this and can also help. By unlocking this potential of people, you can work together to build pleasant living and working environments. This will increase the value of your property at the same time."

They developed a digital platform that facilitates connection and collaboration, taking inspiration from the social structures of a village. This gave rise to the idea of a Micro-village, a digital environment where residents are digitally connected with each other and with real estate parties, making it easy for them to find each other and work together as partners.


Gijs: "Residents communicate through social media channels, which means real estate professionals have no idea what is going on in their buildings, are not able to connect their facilities easily, and they cannot collaborate with residents. With our platform, they can also collect social data that allows them to see the impact of their efforts."


Due to the large impact real estate has on the climate and on communities, ESG factors are increasingly important for investors, owners, and occupiers. Area of People helps her clients with this challenge by supporting them in building digital communities and making measurable social impact.