Affairs
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Madrid: business city
Though lacking London's financial might, Madrid is our business city choice. It's an Iberian hub of opportunity, a gateway to Latin America, and courts start-ups with its sunny quality of life.
City editor
Soviet planning and modern speculators have left many Russian cities at crisis point. But property billionaire Sergey Gordeev plans to turn impoverished Perm into a beacon of urban innovation. Is this a new revolution?
Curated community
Last year we engineered the perfect neighbourhood, receiving praise from the World Health Organisation for putting small business at the core of our high street. This year, we’ve come up with a better borough.
Green light
The upside to rising fuel prices and a depressed property market is more willingness to embrace Kandiyohi Development Partners’ mantra: find a better way. Plus, overleaf, the view from New York
Fukuoka: retail city
Friendly, cosmopolitan Fukuoka is tiny in comparison to Tokyo, but it beats the Japanese capital hands down with its cuisine and shopping. That’s why itis Monocle’s choice for our best retail city award.
Enrique Peñalosa
Enrique Peñalosa transformed Bogotá during his three terms as mayor and is now a leading urban consultant. For lunch, he chooses a local Italian restaurant with a South American twist.
Copenhagen: design city
Copenhagen topped our quality of life survey for many reasons, not least its seamless urban planning that prioritises mobility and resident happiness. Denmark’s capital is, put simply, a city designed for life.
Bangkok call-in
From putting expectant mothers in touch with midwives to finding you a snake-catcher, Bangkok’s ‘quality of life’ radio station RDCK provides a lifeline in a city where public services are haphazard at best.
Editor’s letter: This is the year of makers, fixers and the ambitious
Andrew Tuck on the year ahead.
Pleasant posting
A posting in an emerging market needn’t be a hardship assignment. Monocle selects surprising cities, from Port Louis to Kunming, that have become highly liveable metropolises.
