Ni hao from China: reflections on construction and PropTech

Elise recently returned from a short trip to Beijing, one that offered fresh input on several fronts: academic, entrepreneurial and, not least, human.

China is perhaps best known for the scale of its building, but what really stands out on the ground is how constantly it changes, from the oldest stretches of the Great Wall to massive, standardised housing blocks built to meet exploding demand, and now a new phase where technology and new solutions shape how we plan, build and manage.

We see echoes of the same at home. Construction, in China and Norway alike, is in demanding times: the rules are shifting and the need to adapt is clear. In China this helped fuel a strong push into PropTech from the mid-2010s, and the country is now among the global leaders. The question is: is it Norway’s turn now?

With one of our least digitised sectors, there’s real potential in exploring new solutions for an industry in change, something we carry straight into the work on Turnip.