Elke Dens & Frank Cuypers on Regenerative Development and the Next Places to Watch
Elke Dens and Frank Cuypers, founders of Place Generation, argue that traditional place branding’s focus on differentiation is outdated. They advocate a regenerative, community‑co‑created approach where tourism serves as a tool for social, cultural, and ecological resilience. Their work with destinations such as Visit Flanders, Destination Canada, and projects in the Juan de Fuca Strait illustrates how inclusive stakeholder processes and purpose‑driven leadership translate strategy into tangible outcomes. They highlight emerging “places to watch,” including Torino, Luxembourg City, and several Canadian regions, as exemplars of alignment‑based branding.
Editor’s Letter: Inside the 2026 Place Brand Leaders Yearbook
The 2026 Place Brand Leaders Yearbook profiles 32 cities, regions and nations that are redefining place‑branding through governance, institutional alignment and lived experience. It moves beyond narrative‑driven strategies, showcasing examples from Flanders, Gothenburg, Costa Rica, Canberra, Al Madinah and others. Contributions from...
Katarina Thorstensson on Gothenburg, Sustainable Destination Development, and Growing Better
Gothenburg has retained the top spot on the Global Destination Sustainability Index for a record seven consecutive years, a feat attributed to long‑term stakeholder alignment, transparent measurement, and continuous evolution. Katarina Thorstensson, Head of Sustainability at Göteborg & Co, explains that the...
Lynn Dauwe and Evelyne Bardyn on Flanders, Heritage and Impact-Driven Conferences
VISITFLANDERS officials Lynn Dauwe and Evelyne Bardyn outlined how Flanders is reshaping its place brand around the "Travel to Tomorrow" strategy, emphasizing inclusive, sustainable tourism and heritage‑driven experiences. The Flanders Convention Bureau is positioning conferences as catalysts that connect international...
When Places Stop Talking About Themselves
Place branding is shifting from a broadcast‑first model to a talent‑centric approach that asks "why me?" rather than "why here." The new paradigm emphasizes listening to residents and delivering accountable promises, as illustrated by Gold Coast’s resident‑driven narrative and Greater...
Todd Babiak on the Gold Coast’s Place Brand, Resident Listening and Stewardship Over Promotion
Todd Babiak, CEO of Brand Gold Coast, explains how the city‑owned agency chose to listen to residents before launching any marketing campaign. By assembling a cross‑sectional research panel, the team uncovered misconceptions and a strong "say‑yes" culture that fuels rapid...
One Place, Four Audiences: The Case for a Single Place Narrative
C Studios introduced a four‑level maturity model for place‑branding, urging cities to move from fragmented, audience‑specific messages toward a single, integrated narrative that speaks to tourists, investors, and talent simultaneously. Level Four combines tourism appeal, business opportunity, innovation, and quality‑of‑life...
IMD Smart City Index 2026: What It Means for Urban Leaders
The 2026 IMD Smart City Index reveals that trust, transparency and strong governance now outweigh pure technology in determining a city’s smart‑city ranking. Zurich, Oslo and Geneva retain the top three spots, while Dubai leads the non‑European cohort and Abu Dhabi...
Why Brand Architecture Is Everything in Nation Branding: Lessons From India
India’s nation‑branding strategy has shifted from a single "Incredible India" narrative to a house‑of‑brands model that lets each state craft its own identity. The transition, driven by the creation of Invest India and state‑level trade bodies, has helped attract targeted...
Montserrat Puig on Barcelona, Talent, and the Real Work Behind Innovation Ecosystems
Barcelona is positioning itself as a leading European innovation hub, leveraging a deep‑tech and life‑science specialization that now supports over 130,000 digital professionals, 33% of whom are foreign. The city hosts more than 203 global tech hubs, 9,600 foreign companies...
Ioana Stoica on Co-Creation, Digital Platforms and the Governance of Place Branding
Ioana Stoica, a senior lecturer in digital marketing, argues that place branding is a long‑term governance of meaning rather than a conventional marketing exercise. She emphasizes that residents, not customers, co‑create a place’s identity through everyday experiences and digital storytelling....
Adriana Acosta on Costa Rica’s Strategy to Attract Sustainable, High-Value Investment
Costa Rica is leveraging its globally recognised sustainability record, highly educated bilingual workforce, and long‑standing institutional stability to attract high‑value, knowledge‑intensive investment. The "essential COSTA RICA" brand, coordinated across trade, tourism and foreign affairs agencies, underpins a data‑driven strategy that showcases measurable...
Claude Wagner on the Fragility and Future of Place Branding in Switzerland
In an interview, Professor Claude Wagner highlights the extreme fragility of place branding in Switzerland, noting how a single historic incident can shape perception for decades. He explains that the nation’s linguistic and cultural diversity attracts multinational firms but also...
Europe’s Best Cities 2026: Why Global Urban Leaders Still Dominate the Rankings
Resonance Consultancy’s Europe’s Best Cities 2026 ranking lists London, Paris and Berlin as the top three metros, confirming the continued dominance of Europe’s largest urban hubs. The study evaluates over 180 cities with more than 500,000 residents, blending traditional performance data...
Rankings Vs. Reality: What the Latest Nordic Sustainable Development Report Means for Country Brands
The 2025 Nordic Sustainable Development Report confirms that Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden continue to dominate European SDG rankings, reinforcing their reputation as sustainable nation‑brands. However, the data reveal a plateau in overall SDG progress since 2021, with environmental...