Robert Hammond - Co-Founder, The High Line (NYC) & President and CSO, Therme Group (USA)

Robert Hammond is a visionary in transforming cities through infrastructure that prioritizes people, health, and connection. As the Co-Founder of New York City’s iconic High Line, he helped turn an abandoned railway into a $2.2 billion economic and cultural engine – now a global model for adaptive reuse that promotes connection and wellbeing. He also launched the High Line Network, inspiring over 100 similar projects across North America.

Today, as President and Chief Strategy Officer of Therme Group US, Hammond is applying his placemaking expertise to a new frontier: thermal bathing. His vision is to reintroduce urban bathhouses at scale as accessible community-centered urban spaces, where wellbeing is designed into daily life through infrastructure.

A TED Talk speaker and New York Times op-ed contributor, Hammond’s work asks a provocative question: What if the future of cities depends on reclaiming old school ideas of collective wellbeing? By reviving communal spaces rooted in traditions like Roman baths, he aims to spark a cultural shift – where wellbeing isn’t optimized in isolation but designed into the urban fabric for all.