The Art of Citymaking Festival
Cities are shaped every day — through people, culture, and the rhythms of lived experience.
The Art of Citymaking Festival brings together urban leaders, creatives, policymakers, and practitioners to explore how cities evolve as places to live, connect, and participate.
Across conversations, ideas, and collaborations, the festival focuses on creativity and innovation as essential forces in citymaking — revealing how neighbourhoods adapt, how participation deepens, and how the experience of place is shaped.
This is a space for those working at the intersection of city, culture, and change.
The New York Times Debate — Festival Finale
“The way we measure city success is fundamentally wrong.”
Meet the Debaters & Jury
On the motion: “The way we measure city success is fundamentally wrong.”Moderated by Lily Kuo, The New York Times.
- Carlos MorenoResearcher, scientist and professor, IAE
- Lauren SorkinExecutive Director, Resilient Cities
- Dr Nirmal KishnaniAssociate Professor, School of Design and Environment, NUS
- Cathy OkeDirector, Melbourne Centre for Cities
- Dr Tan Shin BinAssistant Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS
- Esther AnChief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited
- Mich GohDirector of Public Policy, APAC, Airbnb
- Anupam YogManaging Partner, XDG Labs
- Charles LandryAuthor, The Creative City
- Wayne BrownMayor of Auckland
Festival Themes
The festival is organized around three themes: Adaptive Neighbourhoods, Urban Software, and Placemaking & Legacy.
How cities adapt to the people who live in them — across a lifetime.
Explore in The Commons →
How connection, participation, and lived experience shape cities in practice.
Explore in The Commons →
How culture and identity shape places that endure and evolve.
Explore in The Commons →The Programme
A day of conversations on how cities are made — through lived experience, creativity, and the forces shaping their future.
Four acts, from morning masterclass to the New York Times Debate finale. Keynotes, panels, films and an after-hours mixer.
The Voices
A gathering of practitioners, planners, and city-makers from Singapore and around the world — who convened at the Glass Dome on 17 June 2026.
- Carla BartoliFarm Cultural Park / Countless Cities
- Mei ChouGroup Director, Conservation & Urban Design, URA
- Mich GohDirector of Public Policy, APAC, Airbnb
- Tulsi GroverSenior Partner, weareMIXD & Founder, re.vorG
- Samantha HayesFounder, Bioneering Australia
- Yu-Ning HwangChief, Urban Innovation & Excellence, Ministry of National Development
- Peter HylandChair, Leadership for Cities & Industry Fellow, University of Queensland
- Digvijay Singh KathiwadaChairperson, Kathiwada Foundation
- Lily KuoJournalist, The New York Times
- Melissa KweeCo-founder, Beautiful People
- Charles LandryFestival President & Author, The Creative City
- Helen MarriageFounder, Artichoke
- Sanjeev SanyalMember, Economic Advisory Council, Prime Minister of India
- Manvendra Singh ShekhawatFounder, Dhun Life
- Jen WilliamsCEO, Committee for Brisbane
- Anupam YogFestival Director & Founder, Leadership for Cities
Festival Partners
The Art of Citymaking Festival is built in collaboration with a founding network of partners across urban design, real estate, culture, academia, and media — bringing together the ideas and practices shaping cities today.
The Citymaking CircleA standing community around the festival — for people who want to stay close to the work between editions. Join the Circle
Organisations whose work and good company travel alongside the festival.
Field Notes
Correspondence from the people building better cities.
Occasional notes on the festival, the field, and the Circle. Unsubscribe any time.