Health Update: Global Wellness Summit’s Wellness Real Estate and Communities Symposium Set for May 12 in New York City – What Experts Say

With the theme of “Real Estate Through a Wellness Lens,” the event will explore the newest concepts, investment trends and technologies in the explosive wellness real estate market. Early speakers include Ivy Ross, chief design officer at Google; Susan Magsamen, executive director, International Arts + Mind Lab, Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

MIAMI, March 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) today announced that their fifth annual Wellness Real Estate and Communities Symposium will take place Tuesday, May 12, 2026 in New York City. This is the only conference that brings together leaders in real estate, investment, architecture, design, hospitality, public policy, technology, medicine and sustainability to discuss how health and wellness will transform the built environment in the future.

The 2026 theme, “Real Estate through a Wellness Lens,” captures how this year’s agenda will go deeper and wider than ever before, exploring not only luxury projects, but how wellness design is remaking affordable homes, whole communities and cities, workplaces, hospitals, senior living, hospitality destinations, retail spaces, and more.

It will be a day of exploring new ideas and markets. Ivy Ross, Google’s design guru, and Susan Magsamen, a leading researcher on neuroscience and the arts, will have a keynote conversation on “The Science of Art in the Built Environment.” Joseph Allen, DSC, MPH, CIH, one of the world’s top experts on healthy buildings, will discuss the new JPMorganChase building in Manhattan, designed by Norman Foster and a monument to new ideas in wellness real estate, and explain how AI can be used to create much healthier buildings. There will be a dedicated panel of developers creating new longevity residences and Susie Ellis, GWS chair and CEO, will present a “Global Glimpse” of dozens of the most eye-opening wellness real estate projects underway around the world.

New Research: Global Wellness Institute (GWI) researchers will unveil “Build Well to Live Well: Case Studies, Volume 2,” showcasing some of the most exciting, ambitious and impactful wellness real estate projects in the Middle East––the world’s fastest-growing market. Drawing from their recent visits to the Saudi Arabia Red Sea Coast, Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, these case studies will demonstrate how wellness real estate projects can be implemented on the largest scale, integrating human health with sustainability, inclusivity, accessibility, economic development and cultural relevance. 

New Design Challenge: The GWI, in a major, ongoing partnership with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, will unveil a design challenge centered on neuroscience. Susan Magsamen and Nancy Davis, GWI’s executive director and chief creative officer, will present the challenge––crafted by high-profile leaders in architecture, design and philanthropy––while announcing the judges. The prize will be awarded at the 2026 Global Wellness Summit in Phuket, Thailand (November 10-13).

Among all 11 wellness markets, wellness real estate is by far the fastest growing: the global market doubled in the last five years (to reach $548 billion), and GWI forecasts that it will double again over the next five, when it will cross the $1 trillion mark ($1.1T) in 2029.

“GWS and GWI are uniquely positioned as objective authorities across the wellness industry,” said Nancy Davis. “Almost a decade ago we produced groundbreaking research on the just emerging wellness real estate sector—”Build Well to Live Well”—and last year we released a fully updated version of the report, with new data and insights on this fast-evolving space. That really encompasses what this Symposium will offer: a deep dive into the people, places and policies that are driving the future of wellness real estate and communities.”

More About the Early Keynotes:

Ivy Ross is the chief design officer for consumer devices at Google, where, since 2017, she and her team have launched hardware products––from smartphones to smart speakers––that have earned over 240 global design awards. A renowned artist, her innovative metal work in jewelry is in the permanent collections of 12 international museums, and she won a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She, along with Susan Magsamen, wrote the New York Times bestseller, “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us,” a journey through the science of neuroaesthetics offering proof of how our brains and bodies are transformed when we participate in the arts and aesthetic experiences. She has received numerous honors, from being cited by Businessweek as “one of the new faces of leadership” to being ranked ninth on Fast Company’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2019.

Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a groundbreaking neuroaesthetics initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also serves as faculty member. She is a pioneer at the intersection of brain sciences and the arts—and how our unique response to aesthetic experiences can amplify human potential. She has authored eight books, co-directs the NeuroArts Blueprint with the Aspen Institute, is a Fellow at the Royal Society of the Arts, and strategic advisor to numerous innovative organizations, from the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture to the American Psychological Association.

Joseph G. Allen is a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program. He co-authored “Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Can Make You Sick—or Keep You Well,” which The New York Times named one of the top books for healthy living. During the COVID-19 pandemic he served as Commissioner of The Lancet COVID-19 Commission and Chair of its Safe Work, Safe Schools, and Safe Travel Task Force, and served as an advisor to The White House. He is a member of the Harvard Presidential Committee on Sustainability, is an editor for two academic journals (Indoor Environments and Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology), and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers. He’s a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review, and is an advisor to JPMorganChase and Amazon on healthy building strategies for their global portfolios.

Numerous other speakers and topics will be announced in coming weeks.

Register here to attend, with discounted rates until March 29.

Accredited media can apply to attend here. 

About the Global Wellness Summit: The Global Wellness Summit brings together leaders and visionaries to positively shape the future of the $6.8 trillion global wellness economy. In addition to an annual conference held at a different location around the globe, GWS also hosts annual in-person events such as the Wellness Real Estate & Communities Symposium, along with virtual gatherings, including Wellness Master Classes and Wellness Sector Spotlights. The organization’s Future of Wellness report forecasts the top wellness trends for the year ahead and is oft-quoted in the media. The 20th annual Global Wellness Summit will be held in Phuket, Thailand, November 10-13, 2026.

SOURCE Global Wellness Summit