WHAT:

Dr Lidia Gryszkiewicz, Director of The Impact Lab, had the pleasure to represent the REGEN project at the World Cities Summit 2026.

‘The biennial World Cities Summit (WCS) is a platform for government leaders, industry experts and academia to address liveable and sustainable city challenges, share integrated urban solutions and forge new partnerships.

Jointly organised by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), WCS brings together a diverse urban ecosystem to share integrated solutions, showcase real-world case studies, and forge impactful partnerships.’ (WCS, 2026)

HOW:

‘The World Cities Summit (WCS) 2026 concluded its milestone 10th edition, welcoming close to 4,200 delegates and trade visitors from 263 unique cities, including 112 mayors and city leaders at the Mayors Forum, from 14 – 16 June. The Summit brought together global leaders, industry experts, academia, young leaders, innovators, start-ups and entrepreneurs in conversation and ideas exchange on cities, address urban liveability and sustainability challenges.

This year’s theme Liveable and Sustainable Cities: ACT Now! – Accelerate, Collaborate, and Transform, enabled attendees to also share integrated urban solutions, and forge new partnerships to accelerate the shift from dialogue to the delivery of sustainable urban outcomes. Over 40 international exhibitors and presenters showcased a diverse range of innovative projects and practical urban solutions through interactive physical booths and concept pitches at the WCS exhibition.’ (WCS, 2026)

RESULTS:

The visit was interesting for two main reasons.

First, The World Cities Summit provided a vital opportunity for the REGEN project to situate its work within the global conversation on urban regeneration. At a moment when cities worldwide are grappling with decarbonisation, digital tools, community participation, and the question of who regeneration is truly for, WCS brought together the practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who are shaping those answers in real time. For REGEN — a project that bridges research and practice across four very different European neighbourhoods — events like this are not just networking opportunities. They are a chance to test our assumptions, discover what is working elsewhere, and bring back concrete insights that strengthen the project’s approach. The alignment between what emerged from the Summit and what REGEN is building, from holistic assessment frameworks to community-centred tooling to neighbourhood-scale co-design, confirmed that the project is asking the right questions.

Second, as the Director of The Impact Lab is also a jury member of the European Capital of Innovation Award selecting the most innovative cities in Europe, attending the World Cities Summit Awards ceremony offered a rare opportunity to observe that process at global scale, and to bring those observations back into the jury room. Seeing how cities like London, Antwerp, Budapest, Taipei, and Guangzhou articulate their transformation journeys — the choices they made, the trade-offs they navigated, the communities they brought along — sharpened the lens through which European cities can be assessed. The WCS Awards are not just a celebration of achievement; they are a masterclass in what meaningful urban innovation looks like in practice, and a reminder that the most compelling entries are never about technology alone, but about governance, inclusion, and the courage to make difficult decisions for the long term. These reminders will enrich the rigour and depth that the iCapital jury process demands.

Graphics and quoted texts: WCS 2026

#urbaninnovation #wcs #cities #REGEN #iCapital