Call for Papers: MIT Symposium on Technology & Real Estate (with special…
About the Symposium
The real estate industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the integration of material and immaterial technologies, including billions of interconnected sensors and devices that enhance urban environments through real-time data analysis. Advances in artificial intelligence, such as large language models, and technologies like blockchain and IoT sensors, are revolutionizing property management by optimizing operations, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing occupant experiences. The emergence of data centers as a new asset class also presents substantial investment opportunities due to increased demand for cloud storage and internet traffic.
Overall, these technological advancements are reshaping the industry, offering opportunities for growth, efficiency, and sustainability. The 2025 MIT Technology and Real Estate Symposium will advance research on how these material and immaterial technologies affect the real estate industry by engaging scholars and practitioners.
Submit a Paper
On November 20-21, 2025, the symposium will hear from eight to ten scholars who are advancing the research in this field. The symposium concludes in the afternoon of November 21 with keynotes and a roundtable from practitioners who are employing these new technologies in their work.
The paper submission portal is available below. The submission deadline is June 15, 2025. Submitting authors will be notified of results by August 1. Accepted papers will be sent to discussants the following week.
Authors of the papers presented at the symposium will be invited to submit revised papers to a planned special issue of the Journal of Real Estate Research. The normal peer-review procedure applies.
The scholarly papers are encouraged to focus on the following, non-exhaustive list of areas:
- Artificial intelligence and real estate markets
- Generative AI and its applications in real estate markets.
- Embedded technologies (such as sensors) and their applications in real estate markets.
- Data centers and new real estate assets.
- Energy efficient and climate resilient technologies and their applications in real estate.
- Evaluation of Blockchain technology’s effectiveness for secure and transparent transactions in real estate.
- Future of office technology in a remote work environment, future of retail technology in an online-offline shopping environment, and their impacts in real estate markets.
MIT Center for Real Estate will sponsor two nights of hotel accommodation for presenters. If a visa to travel to the United States is required, the participant is responsible for the visa application. The Center will provide an invitation letter.
Conference Organization Committee
- Fábio Duarte, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Markus ElKatsha, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- William G. Hardin, Florida International University & Co-Editor of Journal of Real Estate Research
- James Scott, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Michael J. Seiler, College of William & Mary & Co-Editor of Journal of Real Estate Research
- Siqi Zheng, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
General information about the symposium can be found on the American Real Estate Urban Economics Association website. For issues relating to the paper submission or inquiries regarding the symposium’s academic program, please email jrscott@mit.edu to contact James Scott, Lecturer and Director of Industry Relations at MIT Center for Real Estate.
