A welcome from our editor in chief.

When it comes to launching a business, a warm breeze, blue skies and the mild buzz of a resurgent local economy can do wonders for taking the stress out of starting up. We take the measure of three cities with room to bloom.

As teams fine-tune their preparations ahead of next year’s tournament, now is the time to start planning your own sporting adventure.

From the changing face of advertising to the fast-paced transformations of Tokyo, Beijing and Madrid, we lift the curtain on the issues, questions and events that have been shaping the world and will continue to resonate in 2019 and beyond.

According to the UN, Finns live in the world’s happiest nation – which is news to many of them. Look a little deeper though and it’s clear that decades of government-led tweaks to Finnish life have conjured up a surprising level of contentment.

City dwellers pine for attractive and usable spaces; city planners are beginning to take note. We visit the places where poetic verses are daubed on streets, statues of dogs add a dose of whimsy and ‘playable pavements’ allow children to let off steam.

As the US breaks with the status quo by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv – and a spate of nations declare that they’re willing to follow suit – we assess Jerusalem’s potential as a diplomatic city.

We are living through a new golden age of debate and salons. Talks and conversations are the new religion. We asked our senior correspondent to spend one week at the heart of her city’s debates.

At Expo Real, a three-day real-estate extravaganza in Germany, investors, developers and urbanists come together to thrash out the deals that will shape our cities in the years to come. Grab a beer and join us for a peek at the future of property.

Making a profit and a positive contribution to society needn’t be mutually exclusive. We meet five firebrand investors who’ve helped to fund businesses that make a difference, be it funding envelope-pushing art, balancing the scales for women in business or greening-up city life.

Is a slavish addiction to your smartphone bringing you down? Perhaps your career is less than fulfilling? If so, app developers and ‘happiness consultants’ think they can help. But are they really enough to keep you smiling?

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark has piloted the airline from humble beginnings to become the world’s fourth-largest carrier. While critics claim he’s had unfair subsidies, he insists he’s won by being optimistic – and keeping wine on tap.

We often ask people if they’re ‘ok’. But since when was being ok good enough? The cheery thread that runs through this issue isn’t about scraping by: it’s about celebrating the elements of life that surpass the ordinary. And it’s a simple formula to plot. Whether it means leaping into a lake or cutting shapes at a concert, you’ll find something to smile about in our revelrous rundown. It’s more than OK to enjoy it.

Ever thought of jacking in the day job to start a fulfilling food-focused business? You’re not alone. We seek counsel from the lawyers, marketeers and managers turned tea vendors, grocers and restaurateurs who are finding fresh ways to uphold the traditions of their countries’ culinary delights

Seaweed farming in Patagonia, cave-dwelling in Italy and preserving ancient buildings in Japan: these hoteliers are reviving once-forgotten corners of their native lands with tasteful tourism for travellers seeking authenticity.

Tumbledown infrastructure and high living costs make Lebanon a tough place to live but few cities are as adept at casting worries aside and celebrating life at the end of the week. Dancing shoes at the ready.

The bigger the better, right? Wrong, according to the artists, directors and publishers finding ways to reach more engaged audiences with postage-stamp-sized paintings, television shows for smartphones and small print runs of books about very niche topics.

Japanese digital art collective TeamLab is seizing the aesthetic possibilities of technology to remaster what it means to both create and experience artworks. We took a stroll among the flowers in their brave new world.

Could a co-operative housing estate in Switzerland be the model for a new way of living that can help city dwellers escape sky-high rents and a lack of interaction? We head to Mehr als Wohnen to find out.

The foreboding exteriors of the Fredensborg Houses have been compared with a prison. But peek inside and Jørn Utzon’s revolutionary housing project is every bit as captivating as his masterpiece: the Sydney Opera House.

Fashion’s ever-shifting landscape evolves at breakneck pace. Looking set to push the envelope this year are a Dutch textile virtuoso, a Milanese team with a famous past and a New York label whose bold take on the made-to-measure model could make a big impression.

First impressions are key. So whether you’re travelling, meeting friends or gearing up for that all-important business meeting, here are the clothes that will suit every possible eventuality in 2019 – and keep a smile on your face.