The Idea
A cohort, not a spotlight.
The Idea
One quiet question, one shared week.
We begin with a circle, not a spotlight. A small cohort of creators — drawn from the public realm, urbanism, neuroscience-led design and the practice of human-centred enquiry — share a single week in Singapore, anchored by one quiet question:
What is the role of the creator in the life of a city?
The week is not a programme of appearances. It is a residency: closed-door salons, a co-design studio, shared meals, and one public day on the festival stage — where distinct practices meet, complicate one another, and find common ground.
Anchoring the week is a live brief: Project Mandala — a living experiment in ecological urbanism, craft, culture and human flourishing unfolding on the regenerating edge of Jaipur. The cohort carries its question with them through the week: how do we design places that help human beings flourish, rather than merely function?
Why a Residency
Citymaking is connection, inspiration, exchange.
We started Leadership for Cities because we believe the next chapter of Asia's cities will not be written by planners alone. It will be written by the people who shape how cities feel — artists, storytellers, builders, neighbours.
The residency is our way of putting that belief into practice. Each year, a small cohort anchors the week — distinct practices in conversation, building a programme not of appearances but of exchange: with policymakers, with practitioners, with the city itself.
In 2026, the cohort is anchored by Helen Marriage — in Singapore for the first time — joined by a small circle of others whose work has shaped how cities are imagined and lived.
The Week
A residency, not a tour.
A conversation across practices
Cities are shaped not only by how they are built, but by how they are experienced.
Across the week, the cohort moves between closed-door rooms and public stages — policy meeting practice, the inner life of the citizen-artist meeting the outward life of the city.
The arc culminates in the Citymaking Studio — a one-day co-design session in which the cohort, faculty and host circle work together on an Experience Improvement District for a creative precinct in Singapore.
Programme
01
Sat 13 – Sun 14 Jun
Opening weekend
A walk through the city
The cohort arrives, with studio visits and quiet conversations alongside Singaporean artists and arts spaces. Sunday evening, a welcome supper: an off-the-record dinner with the cohort and the residency's host circle.
02
Mon 15 Jun
Workshop · ipse ipsa ipsum
The cohort convenes
The cohort meets for the first time at ipse ipsa ipsum — the residency's working studio for the week. A day of orientation, shared briefs, and quiet conversation among the makers, objects and materials of the host workshop. The first of two days that build toward Tuesday's closed-door salon.
03
Tue 16 Jun
Closed-door salon · ipse ipsa ipsum
Artistic Freedom & the Public City
A working salon with the Creators in Residence cohort
The two days at ipse ipsa ipsum culminate in a closed-door conversation that convenes twenty-five artists, policymakers and cultural practitioners. A high-trust exchange on what cities owe their creators — and how creative practice shapes the public life of the city.
04
Wed 17 Jun
Festival day · Glass Dome
The Art of Citymaking Festival
Festival day · Glass Dome
The week opens out into the city. The cohort steps onto the festival together — in panels, provocations, readings and interludes that thread the Glass Dome from morning to night.
05
Thu 18 Jun · Day · Culmination
Citymaking Studio · The Foundry
The Citymaking Studio — making an XID in Singapore
The week's working culmination · cohort, faculty & host circle
The residency's working culmination. A one-day co-design session at The Foundry in which the cohort, faculty and Singapore host circle build an Experience Improvement District (XID) for a creative precinct in Singapore — across the five XID disciplines: Foundations, Nature, Wellbeing, Future Heritage and Our Model Town. The brief is informed by Project Mandala.
06
Thu 18 Jun · Evening
Evening conversation · The Nanson
India & The Policy Pivot
The cohort joins India & The Policy Pivot — a high-powered evening conversation hosted by Anupam Yog at The Nanson, on India's reform trajectory, the Singapore connection and the urban opportunity of the next decade. A natural close to the residency's Singapore arc.
07
Fri 19 – Sat 20 Jun
Close
A quiet close
Final exchanges, departures, and a small closing gathering to mark the residency's end.
The series
2026 · Inaugural cohort
Anchored by Helen Marriage
With Charles Landry, Elinor Seath and Clare Inkster.
2027 · Next
To be announced
Nominations open later this year.