Spend enough time speaking with the people shaping cities, regions and nations today, and certain patterns begin to emerge. Not dramatic shifts, not uniform movements, but something quieter and more durable.
A growing recognition that the most credible place branding work is no longer built on narrative alone. It is built on governance, on alignment between institutions, and on the lived experience of the people a place is actually for.
The 2026 Place Brand Leaders Yearbook brings together 32 nominated places from across the world, alongside expert perspectives, practitioner interviews, research insights and reflections from those working at the intersection of identity, governance, tourism, investment and public life. It is a snapshot of where the field stands, drawn from nominations and perspectives across our international expert community and shaped through months of editorial collaboration.
This edition moves from Flanders’ networked model of sustainable convening to Gothenburg’s long-term commitment to responsible tourism; from Costa Rica’s alignment of sustainability and investment strategy to Canberra’s resident-led narrative framework; from Al Madinah’s human-centred urban transformation to Graubünden’s evolving idea of regional stewardship. Gold Coast, Greater Copenhagen, South Australia, Leeuwarden, Los Ríos, Sweden and The Bentway are among the many others whose approaches are explored throughout the edition.
What connects them is less a shared model than a shared direction. Identity is increasingly treated not as something to be constructed and projected, but as something already present in how a place is governed, how its institutions relate to one another, and how its residents experience it every day. The places doing the most compelling work are the ones willing to be held accountable to that reality.
We are pleased to include reflections from leading voices across the field, among them Magdalena Florek, Joao Freire, VisitFlanders CEO Leen Gysen, and Brand Finance’s David Haigh (CEO) and Konrad Jagodzinski (Place Branding Director), as well as an inside perspective on Brand India by Shyam Vasudevan. Their perspectives add context and depth to the cases, helping to surface the connections between individual examples and the broader shifts shaping practice.
This edition was developed with the support of Brand Finance as Title Partner, whose work on nation brand valuation and soft power continues to influence how reputation is measured internationally. The edition’s visual identity and layout were developed with IdeaWorks in India, whose team translated a year’s worth of reporting, interviews and nominations into the publication you now see.
Increasingly, the Yearbook is becoming less a publication about place branding and more a record of how places organise themselves for long-term relevance. We hope it proves useful as a reference, a source of inspiration, and a point of connection for the practitioners, researchers and place leaders who make up this community.
The 2026 Place Brand Leaders Yearbook is available for free download at placebrandobserver.com/yearbook-2026
You’d like to be involved in future publications? Reach me at florian@placebrandobserver.com
