Madona Cumar is a Senior Associate and Workplace Co-Practice Area Leader at Perkins Eastman in Chicago, where she guides strategy and design for projects that shape the future of communities across workplace, housing, education, healthcare, and civic infrastructure. She holds a Master of Architecture from Georgia Tech and has pursued executive education at Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy, focusing on economic development, infrastructure, and social impact leadership. This combination of professional practice and advanced training allows her to bridge the worlds of design, policy, and real estate, aligning capital projects with broader goals for equity, resilience, and long-term value. Madona's nearly two decades of practice span Asia, the Middle East, and North America, giving her a global perspective on how architecture, planning, and development intersect with cultural, economic, and political contexts. She believes that design must do more than create beautiful spaces - it must solve mission-critical challenges, advance dignity, and strengthen community fabric. Her current thought leadership reframes the workplace as civic and care infrastructure, positioning offices not only as centers of business but as vital platforms for intergenerational connection, social equity, and inclusive growth.
Thu Nov 06
9:00 AM — 10:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time
Moscone West - Level 2, 2018-2020
Category
Housing/Residential
For decades, real estate has been organized around separation—seniors in retirement communities, students on campuses, workers in office districts, and families in subdivisions. While this made projects easier to finance and manage, it also left us with inefficiencies, inequities, and single-use assets that are struggling to adapt. Today, demographic shifts, rising care demands, hybrid work, and the push for resilient, community-serving places are driving a new model: age-integrated real estate. These developments intentionally bring together multiple generations, services, and amenities into cohesive ecosystems. From senior-anchored, mixed-use hubs to fully intergenerational districts, they represent a new value proposition—projects that deliver care, connection, and community across life stages while also creating financial resilience and long-term market relevance. This panel will explore what it takes to make
age-integration work—from design and operations to finance, policy, and risk management. Speakers will share lessons from global precedents and local innovations, along with the opportunities and challenges of scaling these models. A central focus will be the role of
public/private partnerships in making projects viable. Attendees will leave with concrete strategies to reposition assets, unlock new tenant mixes, and meet emerging demand for communities that serve everyone—at every age.