Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Empty spaces, hybrid places
Real estate | Hybrid work | Cities
August 17, 2023 – The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people work, live, and shop in cities around the world. What are the lasting effects on real estate? By 2030 demand for office space could be as much as 20 percent lower than it was in 2019 in some major cities, according to research by McKinsey Global Institute partner Jan Mischke, senior partner Aditya Sanghvi, and coauthors. Demand for retail space could drop by up to 22 percent, depending on the city. Cities and real estate leaders can adapt by, for example, developing mixed-use neighborhoods, constructing more adaptable buildings, and designing multiuse office and retail space. Click through the interactive to see more.
To read the report, see “Empty spaces and hybrid places: The pandemic’s lasting impact on real estate,” July 13, 2023.
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Visual form
Dashboard-style chart.
Layout / body structure
The page centers a single chart that is meant to be clicked through rather than read as one frozen frame, with panels covering office and retail demand and their implications for cities.
What is being compared
It compares changes in office and retail demand across major cities between 2019 and 2030 and shows how different urban real-estate uses are affected under the scenario shown.
Measurement system
The measures are percentage changes in demand and city-level real-estate effects, with panel labels and scenario text framing how the reader should interpret each view.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The embedded uses panel changes, text callouts, and category switches for office versus retail, so the page is organized as a slide-by-slide walkthrough instead of one static chart.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart is built to show that both office and retail demand fall materially in the moderate scenario, which pushes the reader toward adaptive, mixed-use responses rather than a quick return to pre-pandemic patterns.
Key standout values or extremes
The source text anchors the visible extremes at up to 20 percent lower office demand and up to 22 percent lower retail demand by 2030.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is the key behavior on the page: the reader clicks through panels to move between office and retail views and to see how the demand shock plays out across city examples.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart is the full visual on this page.