Trend of real estate development varies from region to region. In general, urbanization in and around existing cities is reducing arable land. Than again, as more and more people move in urban homes leaving behind villages, frees up land for farming. However, due to increase in population in the world, the net rate of decrease of arable land is quite alarming. Asian cities offer better services, higher concentration of jobs and more universities than rural areas. Also, there is the influx of folks who hope to make a living by serving the large population of the city, end up living in the slums of the cities.
US and Canadian cities have an absolutely different trend. These countries have large land mass with comparatively small population. Outsourcing of manufacturing activities is having a large impact on real estate development. Many large cities in USA and Canada were hubs of factories. But today many, if not most, of the manufactured goods come from China. Factories are either shutting down or moving away from big cities leaving behind vacant industrial cites. Many of those buildings are being converted to condominium lofts. Yet some are developed into shopping malls. It is OK if the population big enough support the transformation. But some cities were built solely on the basis of the manufacturing activities. Those cities are suffering the most in terms of declining property value. May be it is time to bring back farming in those cities. Though, large scale farming may not be possible, small to medium scale urban vegetable gardening can easily be done by sub-uniting adjacent houses.
