Martin Yankov

Founder / Landscape Urbanist at Urban Culture Fund

Panellist

Martin is a landscape urbanist who has spent the past decade proving that the most overlooked spaces in a city are often its most underpriced assets. As founder of Urban Culture Fund and The Collective Foundation, a European leader in placemaking and urban transformation, he and his team have pioneered a regenerative model that increases the value of degraded urban territories through tactical urbanism, art and culture.

His organisation is the only one in Europe nominated for the European Commission's New European Bauhaus Prizes every year since 2021, winning twice. Their work has contributed to shaping the EU's urban policy and how city regeneration is financed across the continent. The organisation is also a Grand Prix winner of the European Heritage Awards, the highest recognition for heritage activation in Europe.

Urban Culture Fund is now scaling this proven approach into an impact investment platform, acquiring and repositioning degraded properties through design, arts and culture. The model is deliberately non-extractive: upcycling existing buildings rather than demolishing them cuts construction CO₂ emissions, accelerates planning, reduces development risk, and creates places people actively choose to live, work and invest in. Targeted cultural interventions generate disproportionate value, for investors, cities and nature alike.