Hi there! For those of you who celebrate the Lunar New Year, we hope you had a great start to the year🌕🎆! And for everyone else, we hope the past weeks have been going well !
We’re for Cities, an urban and experience design studio based in Japan, working mainly across Japanese and Asian cities. This is a special edition of our newsletter announcing the open call for for Cities Week 2026☺️
25 April – 1 May 2026
for Cities is pleased to announce that registration is now open for ‘for Cities Week 2026 Islamabad’, a week-long collective urban research initiative taking place in Islamabad, Pakistan.
This edition brings together urbanists, researchers, practitioners, and students for an intensive, self-directed research week under the shared theme “Heights.”
for Cities Week 2026 is not a conventional program, but an autonomous research collective. Participants are invited to explore Islamabad independently, develop their own research questions, and contribute to daily exchanges and a shared publication.
What to expect:
Self-directed field research with your own agenda
Daily evening sessions to share observations and insights
Engagement with local urbanists, researchers, and artists
Co-creation of a collective research journal / zine
This year’s edition focuses entirely on the independent research process, rather than producing an exhibition or final output.
“Heights” is a framework for examining how cities are shaped by elevation, verticality, hierarchy, and power.
As a planned capital city located at the foothills of the Margalla Hills, Islamabad offers a compelling context to explore how “height” operates not only as a physical condition, but also as a social, political, environmental, and symbolic one.
Participants are encouraged to interpret “Heights” broadly—through architecture, climate, governance, visibility, spirituality, or everyday urban experience—and to develop one individual research focus under this shared theme.
Islamabad is a modernist planned capital shaped by sector-based zoning, green boulevards, and civic centers, while also being deeply influenced by migration, ecology, and everyday urban practices. Situated between hills, forests, and rivers, the city provides a unique lens for thinking about how cities negotiate life at the edge of nature.
Curious but unsure?
Watch our short info session video to learn more about the concept of for Cities Week 2026, the research approach, and what it’s like to participate.
▶ Watch the Info Session Video
(15 min / English)
Collective activities include:
Opening dinner with local collaborators
Morning meetups with local students and practitioners
Daily evening research-sharing sessions
Closing presentations
👀Local perspectives & presentations
Throughout the week, participants will have opportunities to attend presentations, talks, and discussions led by local collaborators, offering situated perspectives on Islamabad’s urban, cultural, ecological, and artistic contexts.
💡Optional activities:
One-day heritage tour led by DARR Studio
1–2 lectures curated by local partners
Participants will also have time for independent fieldwork, site visits, and meetings they arrange themselves.
After the program, participants are expected to submit a 3,000–5,000 words research essay for the collaborative publication.
DARR Studio (Ar. Samman Qayyum)
Laajverd
Tehzeeb Hassan (Visual Artist)
Each partner contributes to the week through presentations, site-based discussions, or guided sessions, connecting local knowledge with collective research.
This is a self-initiated, non-profit collective. Contributions support editorial and design work for the publication, as well as honorariums for local organizers and collaborators.
🙋♀️General Participants: 300 USD
🇵🇰Local Participants / Pakistani Residents: 20USD or 5,600PKR
Flights, accommodation, transportation, and research expenses are NOT included.
We welcome participants from architecture, urbanism, planning, design, anthropology, geography, creative arts, and related fields.
This program is suited for those interested in:
Field-based urban research through observation, walking, and mapping
Collective discussion as a method of learning
Developing situated questions rather than predefined solutions
A fully formed project is not required—curiosity, openness, and critical engagement are essential.
Please apply via the Google Forms 🔗!
Selected applicants will be contacted via email as soon as possible.
Have any questions or concerns? Please feel free to contact us📩!
Email: info@forcities.org
Subject: for Cities Week Islamabad
For full details about the program, schedule, fees, and application process, please visit our project page☺️
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of for Cities.
for Cities
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