In 1974 residents started moving to AlphaVille, São Paulo’s first gated community. Today there are 300 around the city. While residents may have escaped from becoming entries in the city’s kidnap and murder statistics, they…

Ghana is drilling for oil. Apartments are going up, the educated diaspora is returning and the government has a plan to avoid the “resource curse” seen in places such as Nigeria. In Accra the mood is optimistic and the…

New York City’s enviable culture and wealth have failed to spread to its northern hinterlands. For ailing cities like Buffalo, it’s do or die time.

Ecuador used to be a loyal ally of the US, but now its new president Rafael Correa is cutting a very different course and even looking to Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez for political guidance. *Monocle* travelled there to meet the…

The world is dividing into two halves: those who will not abandon the nine-to-five routine, and those (think Asian nations) willing to make sure they are open for business at all hours. We may not like it – but will East…

The Venezuelan port town of Maracaibo has long stood out from the rest of the country. Oil wealth means it’s set to become a Latin American hub – and a major pro-commerce, anti-Chávez stronghold in forthcoming elections

Wars and volcanoes have made Goma a dangerous place to call home. But with a fragile peace now in place in the DR Congo, everyone from Lebanese traders to Serbian pilots are arriving in town. The lure: the region’s vast…