MAXIMUM DESIRABLE COMMUTE TIME HAS BEEN (45) MINUTES.

the city centre.” Zakharenko estimates that land rents in the urban core may increase from 30 to 40 per cent whereas land rents may decline by the same amount in the periphery.

AVs are likely to introduce a new type of land-use or real-estate class: the dedicated parking belt, where prices would be significantly lower than in the core itself and the distance more convenient than returning home.

While the AV-driven evolution in mobility requires preparation and planning, many cities have yet to get started.

Erick Guerra, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, noted in the Journal of Planning Education and Research that a survey of long-range regional transportation plans of the 25 most populous metropolitan areas, home to 40 per cent of the U.S. population, revealed barely any mention of AVs.

Real estate asset managers also need to keep a close watch on how AVs are likely to transform mobility and urban built form. A recent note in the Appraisal Journal warns that AVs will “impact residential and commercial real estate. The confusion lies in knowing the degree of the impact, the timing of the impact, and how various sectors of the real estate market will change.”

The likely relocation of parking space from the urban core to relatively cheaper land nearby alone is going to create new challenges and opportunities for owners of commercial real estate.

The task for real estate managers, city builders and urban planners is now to collaborate to improve mobility and real estate outcomes for citizens, before autonomous vehicles make such decisions — autonomously.