THE POWER OF PEOPLE, PLACES & FIRMS
Reading Time: 3 minutesSmart city has become shorthand for digital ambition, but it still tends to conjure images of large cities, costly infrastructure and tech-led programmes that feel remote from everyday life. Sunderland’s experience points to a different approach. But what makes it different?
Reading Time: 4 minutesJapan’s tourism boom shows no sign of slowing. In 2025, the country set a new record, welcoming more than 40 million international visitors for the first time. While Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka remain the best-known destinations, other cities are working to put themselves on the map. How is Sendai seeking to grow its international profile, while ensuring tourism also strengthens the city’s resilience and delivers lasting benefits for local people?
Reading Time: 4 minutesEvery day, Alba Iulia both supports and draws strength from its rural surroundings. Thousands come into the city for school, work, healthcare and services, bringing skills and spending that support local jobs and businesses. But the relationship runs both ways. Rural businesses supply food and goods and help shape the visitor offer that makes Alba Iulia such an attractive place to live and visit. What lessons can be drawn on buidling skills, mobility and collaboration between rural and urban communities?
Reading Time: 4 minutesBy 2030, Guadeloupe and Martinique are expected to have between 70 and 80 elderly people for every 100 people of working age, compared with around 60 in mainland France. This highlights the particularly rapid pace of demographic aging in these territories.
What lessons can be drawn from housing in France’s overseas territories to manage this transition effectively?
Reading Time: 4 minutesAfter years in economic exile, industrial policies are back in a big way. Industrial policy interventions increased 20-fold in the past decade, as governments seek to rebuild competitiveness, support emerging technologies and shore up supply chains. This is true in OECD countries, but also in developing countries which use it more intensively. Many of these are adopting a place-based approach: between 2019-22, regional industrial policy support rose by over 50% as a share of GDP in 11 OECD countries. But why?
Reading Time: 4 minutesHypervoisins illustre comment des initiatives locales peuvent renforcer la cohésion sociale et lutter contre la solitude en milieu urbain. En proposant des activités de quartier organisées, des espaces partagés et du soutien entre voisins, les habitants tissent des liens plus solides et améliorent le bien-être collectif. Ce modèle pourrait-il être reproduit dans d’autres villes pour réduire l’isolement social et renforcer les liens communautaires ?
Reading Time: 2 minutes近年、全世界的に少子化が進行している。子供は社会の宝であり、その笑顔は未来への希望である。だからこそ、今を生きる私たちが、確かな「戦略」と「意志」を持って、望む人が安心して子供を産み育て、子供が健やかに成長できる環境を整えることが重要だ。この考えは、OECDの取組の方向性とも軌を一にするものである。
東京都が2025年３月に策定した「2050東京戦略」では、戦略の第一に「チルドレンファースト」を掲げており、最優先で進めてきた。これらの取組が今、確実に実を結んできている。
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn recent years, birth rates have been declining worldwide. But children are society’s treasure, and their radiant faces are hope for the future. That is why it is crucial for those of us here today to have a solid “strategy” and maintain a strong “will” to prepare an environment where those who wish to have and raise children can feel confident about doing so, and where children can grow up healthy and strong.