The Citymaking Circle
One hundred and fifty members. The number is Dunbar’s.
A year-round community for anyone with a stake in how cities are lived in — planners and architects, yes, and equally investors, artists, operators, clinicians, educators, civil servants and community organisers. Members work across the themes we programme: adaptive neighbourhoods, urban software, and placemaking & legacy. Curated by Leadership for Cities, with members from across ASEAN, the Asia Pacific, and beyond. Citizen and Placemaker seats are filling quickly; Custodian and Steward are down to their final few; Patrons are closed.
Three things to know
It stays small.
One hundred and fifty members. Beyond Dunbar's number, a community becomes a list.
It moves at the pace of the work.
Applications are welcomed on a rolling basis and reviewed as they arrive. Seats are taken up as the right people arrive, calling by calling.
One way in.
Every calling is by application. A short form, then a conversation. Nothing is sold on this site; dues follow an invitation.
“The size of human social groups is naturally limited to about one hundred and fifty individuals — beyond that, relationships stop being personal and become administrative.”
The Circle is capped at one hundred and fifty. The number is not arbitrary.
What a Circle year looks like.
The Circle convenes through in-person gatherings, online sessions, and the longer thread of introductions and private conversation. The festival anchors in Singapore every two years; between festivals, the Circle travels.
The Art of Citymaking Festival
One day, one room. Held biennially — Singapore in 2026 and 2028, travelling in between. The festival is the cohort's convergence.
Salons between festivals
Intimate gatherings hosted in member cities across ASEAN and the Asia Pacific — Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Mumbai, and beyond. The Circle travels in the years the festival doesn't.
Leadership for Cities programmes
Priority access to In Residence, Studio, and Labs — convened annually alongside the Circle.
The work between
Introductions. Briefings. Private conversation. The long thread of relationship that makes a community more than a list.
By application, on a rolling basis
Every calling begins with an application and a conversation. Citizen and Placemaker are actively recruiting and going fast; Custodian and Steward are down to their final seats; Patrons are closed. Dues are shared on request, once we understand the fit.
Salons in member cities across ASEAN and the Asia Pacific · priority access to Leadership for Cities programmes · an all-access seat at The Art of Citymaking Festival in June 2028.
All Citizen benefits, with: a guest at the 2028 festival · named in published Circle materials.
All Placemaker benefits, with: two guests at the 2028 festival · a voice in the programmes ahead.
All Custodian benefits, with: three guests at the 2028 festival · on-stage acknowledgement at the festival.
Three individuals, by direct conversation. A named seat on the inaugural Patrons’ Council. A public role at the 2028 festival. The circle of Patrons is now complete.
Not a published tier, and not open. Should a seat come free, we will say so here — until then, write to circle@leadershipforcities.com about the other callings.
A small Circle. A year-round practice.
Every seat is by application, and the room is filling. Tell us who you are and we will take it from there.
The Fellowship is for individuals. The Circle is for those who carry a city, an institution, or a portfolio.
Friend · free — Fellow · SGD 188 a year
An individual membership. Friends follow the work and keep the Commons in view. Fellows fund it, and go deeper — films, session recordings and the fuller record as it lands.
About the Fellowship →One hundred and fifty seats · dues on request
A curated year of convenings, salons and closed-door work across ASEAN and the Asia Pacific. Every calling is by application, beginning with a conversation. Citizen and Placemaker are filling fast, Custodian and Steward are down to their final seats, and Patrons are closed.
You are hereField Notes
Correspondence from the people building better cities.
Occasional notes on the festival, the field, and the Circle. Unsubscribe any time.