From a call for collaborators
to an open invitation.
The 2020 piece was a call. It asked whether the built environment could be measured by the contemplative life it permits. Six years on, the question has only sharpened — and the apparatus to keep asking it is finally in place. The Index is v1 of that apparatus, and the invitation is open.
A research project, a hypothesis, a call.
"Intentional Meditation Spaces × Intentional Meditators = Conscious Places." Published May 20, 2020. A pandemic-era proposition that public space, used with intention, was the missing infrastructure for mental health at scale.
A 100-day update: a seed grant from the Royal Academy of Engineering, first city site Kathmandu, parallel discussions in Hillegom. The Big Sit, launched at Guoco Tower on Mindfulness Day 2020, became the practice arm of the research.
An index — measurable, comparable, contestable.
The 2020 framing was the seed. The 2026 framing is the apparatus: a three-pillar index (Spaces × Practice × Stewardship) scored across twelve indicators per city, with a geometric mean composite so that no one dimension can mask the absence of another.
Anchored by The Big Sit's footprint across Singapore, London, and Jaipur. Sitting now inside XDG Labs' habitat intelligence practice — urban systems, lived experience, governance, stewardship.
"Meditation and mindfulness have had a profound impact on me, and this is my way of paying it forward… with a vision for the future of our cities that enable the well-being and health of all their residents and citizens… by nudging them to be present!"
"Taking a leap of faith, sowing a seed, to see if now, this idea can take flight, and eventually, help shape healthier cities…"
Published by XDG Labs.
Authored by Anupam Yog.
XDG Labs
XDG Labs is a habitat intelligence practice working at the intersection of urban systems, lived experience, governance and stewardship. The Conscious Cities Index sits inside that practice as a long-horizon research instrument — one of several tools the Labs is building to make the conditions for healthy human habitats measurable, comparable, and contestable.
Anupam Yog
Anupam founded XDG Labs after two decades working in cities, capital, and culture — at weareMIXD, within the global placemaking community, and across The Big Sit's footprint in Singapore, London, and Jaipur. The 2020 Conscious Cities Index call completes a 6-year arc; v1 of the Index is its continuation.
v2 will be primary-data driven.
v1 is a synthesis instrument. v2 will be built on primary observation, in partnership with the cities, institutions, and practitioners who choose to join.
The 2020 call,
more concrete.
The 2020 piece was a call for collaborators, partners, and supporters. The 2026 prototype is the same call, more concrete:
University labs and researchers working at the intersection of urban analytics, mental health, and the built environment.
City governments and place-makers interested in being among the first pilot districts for the v2 instrument.
Real estate, healthcare, and civic foundation partners who see the commercial and social case for a measurable conscious city.
Storytellers and curators who can help translate the index for publics, policymakers, and practitioners.
Six years.
Twelve cities. One quiet revolution.
The Conscious Cities Index is open to collaboration — institutional and individual. If you've read this far, you're already part of the field.