ABSTRACT
In the last years of the nervous 1990s, it is difficult to remember that 1982 was a turning point in the history of the commercial property investment market in the last half century. This was the year when, after more than a decade, the yield on long-dated government bonds became positive; from 1982 the financial world reentered a period of real interest rates (Fig. 7.1). Despite this change, for a variety of reasons, it took the property investment market almost 10 years to appreciate the significance of this event. Many urban town planners remain unaware or have not appreciated the importance of this change, but town and city development will depend upon a working relationship, as well as an understanding, between the public and private sectors.
