Blue Earth Summit 2026 explored how storytelling, business strategy, nature finance and community engagement can turn sustainability ambitions into practical action. Concept Culture shares five key lessons from the summit for the built environment, from making sustainable choices commercially viable to creating places where people and nature thrive.

Nature-based design challenges the way cities are planned, valued and delivered. Rasmus Astrup makes the case for connecting biodiversity, water, mobility and public life -and finding better ways to measure what those systems create.

A place brand can easily become a logo. Hounslow took a different approach, using community engagement, partnership and strategic storytelling to connect its distinct places and support a wider regeneration and investment story.

What changes when development starts with the people who live in a place? Hanna Afolabi explores people-first development, the shift from build-to-sell to build-to-hold, the pressure on housing viability and why representation in the room matters.

In Episode 34 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by urban designer Mikael Colville-Andersen to explore tactical urbanism in Ukraine, designing for resilience, citizen-led urban change, and how cities can adapt and respond to disruption.

In Episode 33 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Theo Blackwell, London's Chief Digital Officer, for a conversation on smart cities, AI, digital leadership, data governance, and why the future of urban innovation starts with citizens, not technology.

In Episode 26 of Talking Place, host Tanisha Raffiuddin is joined by Deborah Saunt, founding director of DSDHA, for an unflinching conversation on spatial justice, co-design, and the safety of women and girls in urban space.

Patrik Schumacher, Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects, on placemaking, inclusiveness, density, AI, the UK housing crisis, and why London has the potential to be a city of 30 million.

Place storytelling strategist Tanisha Raffiuddin shares six revelations from Urban Future 2026 in Ljubljana — on placemaking, place marketing, place branding, and the stories that make cities unforgettable.