URW is aware of the leading economic importance of its real estate properties. In addition to being an urban planner, providing public facilities and building unique, iconic and well-connected places, URW plays a key role in the local ecosystem; URW is increasingly contributing to the social and economic vitality of the communities it serves. URW drives positive economic and social impact within its communities through employment, training and social inclusion:

• Economic driver: creating thousands of direct or indirect employment through construction and operational spending, indirect employment by tenants’ sales and activities, suppliers’ activities and local taxes; and
• Social integrator: actively working on maximising its impact by developing meaningful community projects and partnerships that support jobs, offer training, promote social inclusion and increase access to health and culture. In 2023, as part of the Better Places roadmap, URW has for the first time developed an innovation and multidimensional methodology to quantify and qualify the impact of URW shopping centres in Europe. This study, the first one published in the retail real estate industry in the EU, shows the positive footprint the Group has for communities and for citizens in their daily lives.