Urban planning enthusiast

Before the establishment of Nextdor Property Communications, Imran Clyde had his fair share of experience working with a multinational advertising agency.

He was responsible for developing and implementing a dedicated property unit within the agency, which provided complete marketing strategies to property-related companies.

Imran said growing up, town planning paraphernalia surrounded him. His father is a town planner, and he was exposed to plans and many town-related discussions, which led to his secret love for cities.

Aside from his strong background in advertising, marketing and public relations, Imran was also attached to Visual Extreme Malaysia, an animation house. He was responsible for developing new business opportunities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Middle East region.

In collaboration with MIP

After working with more than 30 developers at Nextdor Property Communications over the last 16 years, he realised there’s a disconnect about the in-depth issues facing the cities in Malaysia.

He argued: “People are working in silos in terms of city management and city design.”

When MIP approached the agency and talked about its plan to promote the cities, Nextdor decided to jump at the opportunity.

“We knew this was a very unique and special opportunity to bring people together. The potential change that we can derive from this is enormous.

“We can start small, but you never know unless you do it,” said the executive director.

On sustainable property trends

Imran agreed that many developers are becoming more aware of sustainability. However, in terms of commercial interests, they will follow whatever is in their best interests.

“But from my experience, they will possibly do the most minimum possible. I give you a simple example. Smart lighting is not something developers want to provide you. It is something that they expect the local authority to provide you with later down the road.

“The reason for that is because the minimum requirement had specific specifications. They will give you the minimum possible. They are not interested in providing you beyond that.

“But we are starting to see a change, especially when it comes to the younger generation of developers who are more aware and conscious that these are what the market wants.

“So, as the buyer’s market matures, their interest levels change and then the developers will change along with it,” he said, highlighting the need for stakeholders to be more proactive in accelerating this process.

“Placemaking is one of the examples of how we can make a space sustainable.”

Imran, however, argued that in pursuing this sustainable goal, people could not just be looking at the property sector and developer alone. From the brand’s perspective, we should consider the after-sales condition of the property as it would also affect the brand image.

“It’s actually in their best interest to not have this handover mentality.”

Regarding CEM 2021, Imran shared that they were interested in getting technology companies to come and join them at the expo as they were looking for high-tech and low-tech solutions.

“Technology companies, especially those involved in green and smart cities. It can also be waste management, energy and water.

“We’ve got a lot of local authorities, economic corridors already onboard. We’re very excited about that. We’d love to see more developers as well. Professionals, engineers, QS valuers, and the most important one is the public!

“Banks! We want to see banks participate because not many people realise the role that banks play in facilitating certain changes.”