Paris is ushering in a new era of mixed-use developments to rebuild local communities and improve quality of life.

Space is sparse, costs are high, and finding a suitable place to live has become a real challenge. One solution, in short, is to go small. Micro apartments have cropped up in dense cities across the globe.

With Germany on a drive to clean up its streets, electric cars are increasingly part of the journey towards a low carbon economy.

In recent years it’s become a heavily-used thoroughfare and disconnected from daily Parisian life. That’s something that a plan to breathe new life into the fabled avenue hopes to reverse.

While there’s no shortage of artisan or chain outlets, residential developers are increasingly choosing to add their own offerings to the mix with coffee bars on the ground floors of new build apartments.

For a glimpse into the future – and what automation means for retail – experts are looking to China. It’s fully embracing unmanned stores, where shoppers can walk in, select their products, pay and walk out, all without needing to interact with another human.

India is on a mission to put its ample sunshine to work, with ambitious efforts underway that have already started to reshape energy consumption across the country.

Tapping into lifestyle trends is key for retailers – and specialist brands often do it best.