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Conference Living City 2026

Living City 2026 – visions, values, wellbeing

The Living City conference brings together stakeholders from across the built environment sector to explore current research and inspiring examples of how we can create the cities and communities of the future, combining resilience, innovation and high-quality design.

On 6 October, municipalities, public authorities, property companies, developers, researchers and practitioners came together to hear inspiring speakers address the theme of visions, values and well-being. Discover examples that point the way forward and meet the visionaries working to make our cities more resilient, greener and more attractive.

Watch the conference on demand:

Did you miss the conference, or would you like to revisit some of the presentations?
Here, you can watch the conference on demand until 20 October.

Meriem Chabani, founder and managing director, New South

Trude Schjelderup Iversen, senior curator, KORO – Public Art Norway

Markus Miessen, professor of urban regeneration, University of Luxembourg

Johan Kuylenstierna, Director-General, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency

Paula Femenias, Professor of Building Transformation and Associate Professor of Sustainable Transformation of the Built Environment, Chalmers University of Technology

Rebecka Engvall, City Architect, Municipality of Ulricehamn

Åsa Bjerndell, architect and Head of Development, Råängen

Anna Starbrink, Deputy Director-General, Swedish Civil Defence Agency

Maria Natonska, Innovation Manager, Municipality of Karlstad

Martin Hollertz, Director of Urban Development, Municipality of Karlstad

Erik Eriksson, Deputy Director-General, Formas

Anita Aspegren, CEO, IQ Samhällsbyggnad

Karin Book, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Sport Sciences, Malmö University

Helena Nordh, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)

Martin Edfelt, City Architect, Municipality of Uppsala

Torleif Falk, City Architect, City of Stockholm

Anki Kaplan Wikström, Policy Analyst, Architects Sweden

Helena Bjarnegård, Chair, Council for Living Cities

Jessica Segerlund, Acting Head of Department, ArkDes

Kris Johnson-Jones, Senior Strategist, ArkDes, and moderator for the day

About the conference

The conference is aimed at those working at the municipal, regional, and national levels, within academia, or as private actors in the urban development sector. ArkDes organizes the conference in collaboration with Formas ↗, on behalf of the Council for Vibrant Cities ↗.

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Munkbrobadet, Stockholm. 1934. Architect: Ragnar Östberg. ArkDes collection.