David Cadman (author)

For the Canadian urban manager, see David Cadman.

David Cadman (born 1941) is a British writer and real estate economist.

Background

Cadman was born and raised in England, near Colchester, during World War II as a birthright Quaker. His parents were Quaker pacifists. He attended the University of Cambridge, studying Land Economy in the 1960s. He became a successful commercial property developer and part-time academic, and in 1981 he established a small consultancy firm in Covent Garden, Property Market Analysis, with the economist Dr. Richard Barras.

He has held a number of visiting positions at universities, including:

• Harmony Professor of Practice, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2016-current
• Visiting Professor, Bartlett School, University College London (current, 2018)
• Fellow, Wolfson College, Cambridge, with teaching in the Department of Land Economy (1980s)
• Visiting Professor, University of Reading (1980s)
• Visiting Professor, University of Maryland (late 2010s)

He is widowed with children and grandchildren, and lives in Aldeburgh in Suffolk, and London.

Contributions

Economics and real estate research

Cadman coauthored a successful textbook on property development in the 1970s (Cadman and Austin-Crowe, 1978), and several other key texts on risk and management of commercial real estate projects, particularly while working part-time at the University of Reading and University of Cambridge. His textbook is still in print in the late 2010s under different authorship.

Property Market Analysis was established to advise commercial investors on property markets. PMA clients included investment banks, pension funds, and commercial developers and it became a successful international operation. It still conducts bespoke studies to assess commercial prospects for retail, office and industrial investments. Cadman and Barras set up a PMA subscription service, PROMIS, that still provides regularly updated information on most UK and some global urban markets, currently on 300 towns and cities. Cadman stepped away in the 2000s to other consultancy work and to writing and reflection on questions of spirituality and sustainability.

Spirituality

Cadman became more interested in sustainable urban development and particularly the "place of love" from which Quaker testimonies spring, and how to enact these in everyday life. He has edited several volumes on this theme, particularly since retiring from the property sector.

He has worked with the Temenos Academy, an educational charity offering education in philosophy and the arts spanning the sacred traditions of East and West. Temenos was initially accommodated in London by Charles, Prince of Wales and Cadman has also edited volumes of the Prince's speeches (2014, and forthcoming) and had work published by the Prince's Trust. He was chairman of what is now known as The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community and was a Trustee of The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts.

Among several board positions on sustainability, peace and harmony, Cadman was involved in establishing the inter-faith Spirit of Humanity Forum in 2010, which held its first meeting in Rekyavik in 2012 (as a counter to the World Economic Forum in Davos) and now meets every two years. Its goals are to "bring together leaders and practitioners who hold the view that the positive energy of love is the deepest, most enduring and most valuable characteristic of human nature. The aim of the Forum is to identify and share ways of improving access to this inner strength of being. It showcases practical examples of how love, compassion and a care for others can transform and truly re-humanise an organisation."

A 2017 novel, and sequels, written under a pseudonym, The House by the Marsh and Abraham Soar, mirrors some aspects of his own life, addressing ageing and loss.

Publications

• David Cadman and Leslie Austin-Crowe. 1978. Property development. London: Spon. (second edition 1983, third edition 1991, fourth edition 1995 ISBN 0419202404; continued thereafter under different authorship)
• David Cadman and Alejandrina Catalano. 1983. Property development in the UK: evolution and change. Reading: College of Estate Management, University of Reading.
• Peter Byrne and David Cadman. 1984. Risk, uncertainty and decision making in property development. London: Spon. ISBN 0419119507
• David Cadman and Geoffrey Payne (eds.). 1990. The living city: towards a sustainable future. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415012503
• David Cadman & John Carey (eds.). 2002. A sacred trust: ecology and spiritual vision. London : Temenos Academy & The Prince's Foundation. ISBN 0954031113
• David Cadman and John Carey (eds.). 2006. Sanctuary. London: Temenos Academy. ISBN 0954031172
• David Cadman. 2008. Roots of Sustainability. The Princes Foundation.
• David Cadman. 2009. Holiness in the everyday. London: Quaker Books. ISBN 9781907123047
• David Cadman and Suheil Bushrui (ed.). 2014. Speeches and Articles of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales 1968-2012. Cardiff: The University of Wales Press.
• David Cadman. 2014. Love matters. London: Zig Publishing. ISBN 0956690033
• David Cadman. 2015. Finding Elsewhere. London: Zig Publishing. ISBN 0956690041
• Scherto R. Gill, David Cadman (eds.). 2016. Why love matters: values in governance. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 9781433129292
• David Cadman and Scherto Gill (eds.). 2017. Peacefulness: Being Peace and Making Peace. Spirit of Humanity Press. ISBN 9789935936301
• (as William Blyghton). 2017. The House by the Marsh (novel). Write Factor. ISBN 0993385982
• David Cadman. 2017. Peacefulness: being peace and making peace]. Spirit of Humanity Press. ISBN 9789935936301
• David Cadman (ed.). 2019. Speeches and Articles of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales 2013-2017. Cardiff: The University of Wales Press.
• (as William Blyghton). 2020. Abraham Soar. Panacea Books.
• (as William Blyghton). 2020. Noah: An Old Fool. Panacea Books.