5G has been in the pipeline since as early as 2008. Today, 5G is nearly in our grasp and 2020 will see the first roll out of commercially viable 5G in consumer devices. But what does it really mean for cities? For businesses? Will 5G herald the next wave of digital transformation or will we just be living in a faster version of our current society?

What happens when place branding becomes separated from the government? What changes when the private sector becomes the leading driver of a place brand strategy?  Can it work?  We looked to three contrasting examples of private sector-led place branding initiatives to understand some developing trends in private sector engagement.

Brand Finance unveiled the Global Soft Power Index at a summit in London on February 25th, in front of an audience of over 400 international diplomats. What were the key findings from the index, and what can place branders learn from soft power experts?

The UK media is covered in headlines proclaiming the death of the high street. But this isn't true - they're just in a process of transformation. How are destinations using innovative placemaking and policy reforms to revitalise their city centres?

Three years ago, City Nation Place conducted a survey to discover how the place branding teams for cities, regions, nations and places around the world viewed their opportunities and challenges, and what they were predicting for the future. These are some of the conclusions we drew from the survey in 2017 – but how have these changed as we head into the new decade?

A central facet of our ongoing age of uncertainty is the increasing overlap of political and commercial behaviours. Identities and spaces that were a generation ago seen as separate have increasingly overlapped, leading to new challenges in shepherding organizational reputations. Nowhere is this trend more apparent than when chaotic political environments impact how people view the health of nations. The United Kingdom's ongoing struggle with the implications of Brexit and the responses from the rest of the world provide a fascinating case study.

With just two weeks to go until City Nation Place Global 2019 kicks off in London, we gathered some of the best quotes from our speakers to give you a little preview of the wonderful work that destinations around the world have been undertaking...