What's next? The question of whether future retail design will be analogue, digital or hybrid has long since been answered. It is now interesting to ask what synergy effects result from this and how these can contribute to the resilience of our built environment. Especially the mature inner cities are facing enormous innovation pressure. Smart alliances are being formed and daring retail concepts are being tried out that add value in the urban space. The new yearbook shows solutions that accompany us worldwide into the "new normal". Dr. Jons Messedat teaches the Construction and Space module at HAWK Hildesheim with a focus on Corporate Interiors. After studying Architecture and Industrial Design, he completed his doctorate at the Bauhaus University Weimar on corporate architecture. In 2018 he was appointed by the Architektenkammer Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony Chamber of Architects) as part of the jury for the State Prize for Architecture.