How can we better understand, repair and reimagine the contemporary city?
Taking place in Istanbul from 7–9 October 2026, the Emerging Communities Forum 2026 will bring together urban planners, designers, researchers, public institutions, community actors, young professionals, local innovators and international organisations to explore this question through real urban experiences and stories.
Rather than following a traditional conference format centred only on academic papers, the Forum is conceived as a Human Library of Urban Stories, bringing together lived experience, professional knowledge, community practices and wider questions about the future of cities.
Call for Stories: Extended until 14 August
Urban professionals, researchers, organisations and community actors are invited to contribute a story from their own work, city or community.
Stories can explore successful initiatives, but also challenges, contradictions and failures that can help others understand how cities are changing and what we can learn from them.
The Forum is structured around four interconnected themes:
- Territories of Urban Change: sustainable development across cities, regions and metropolitan systems
- Mending Urban Life: regeneration, circular systems and community-based urban innovation
- Coexistence by Design: diversity, trust, conflict prevention and intelligent urban governance
- Urban Futures for All: justice, vulnerability, inclusion and the right to belong
Selected contributors will be invited to present their stories in Istanbul in a format that best suits their work, from short presentations and spoken stories to videos, maps, drawings, posters or other visual formats.
All accepted stories will also be included in the official Forum Book of Proceedings, with selected contributions invited for further development into a dedicated thematic publication.
Join the Forum in Istanbul
The Emerging Communities Forum aims to create an international space for exchange grounded in real places, practical experience and different perspectives on contemporary urban change, with Istanbul itself serving as a living learning environment.
Whether you work in planning, design, research, governance, community development, mobility, regeneration, technology or another field shaping cities, the Forum offers an opportunity to share experiences, meet peers from different contexts and contribute to a wider conversation about fairer, more resilient and inclusive urban futures.
Dates: 7–9 October 2026
Location: IPA Campus, Istanbul, Türkiye
Call for Stories deadline: 14 August 2026
All Things Urban is proud to support the Emerging Communities Forum 2026 as an official Media Partner.