The Monocle Minute

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No. If you’re on a city street and it swooped near-silently within a few inches of your nose, the chances are that it’s one of a new generation of electric bikes or souped-up scooters racing past with abandon. The direction of travel in city-making is clear. Whether you’re in Manchester or Montréal, or less likely outposts from dusty Dubai to Jakarta, there’s an idea gaining traction: that a city’s civilisation, progress and worth can be measured in kilometres of cycle lanes. The future, it seems, can be reached by bike (or one of a travelling circus of unicycles, electric skateboards and more).

So, forgive me for venturing an unpopular opinion – ding your bell in disapproval or impatience at my lack of enlightenment, if you must – but I’m not sure that bikes are always good for us or our cities. Our out-today mobility-themed September issue of Monocle contains a telling report about ambivalence towards two-wheelers that is defining (and dividing) politics in Brussels. It’s a lesson that other cities should be mindful of.

Many liberal, white-collar and doubtlessly well-meaning city slickers say that more bike lanes would be nice but there’s a backlash coming: the gears of change are grinding. Others, often blue-collar, well-meaning suburbanites who need cars to earn a living or get around, see the banishment of their vehicles as part of a ghettoisation to keep tradesfolk, car dependents and often ethnic minorities outside pristine city centres. “Off to the suburbs with those smoky old jalopies,” these progressive cycling sorts seem to be saying under the guise of good urbanism.

Our foreign editor, Alexis Self, has the full report and finds that the Belgian capital’s Good Move scheme, though popular with some, has a long way to go before it can convince its sceptics. It’s a nuanced read that should have the staunchest bike enthusiast dabbing the brakes and slowing a little to consider the effect that wanton cycling infrastructure additions might have on people in other lanes of life. Compromise will be a two-way-street in Brussels but other cities need to watch their step to avoid a similarly nasty collision.

Josh Fehnert is Monocle’s editor. Our fast-moving mobility-themed September issue isout now. Pick up a copy today orsubscribeso you never miss an issue.

It’s no easy task, building aircraft that will carry the world’s most powerful individual. Any such vehicle needs to be strong, reliable and fitted with sufficient communications equipment to run a world war, yet graceful in accordance with the dignity of the US presidency. One hold-up in approving the new batch of Sikorsky VH-92A Patriot helicopters, which is now serving as Marine One, was that their engines scorched the White House lawn.

With this issue apparently rectified, Sikorsky has turned over to the US Marine Corps’ Helicopter Squadron 1 (HMX-1) the 23rd and final Patriot, which will ferry the president on trips too long for the official limousine but too short for Air Force One. The $5bn (€4.5bn) programme will see the capacious Patriots replacing the smaller VH-3D Sea King and the still smaller VH-60 White Hawk, also built by Sikorsky. It’s quite something to ponder that HMX-1 operates more helicopters than Belgium’s entire air force.

If the deal for Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy Japan’s 7-Eleven goes through, it would be the biggest foreign takeover in Japanese history. As one of the world’s largest minimarket businesses, 7-Eleven has more than 84,000 shops in 19 countries. But given that ACT already owns the US Circle K chain, there could be problems ahead.

“Antitrust regulations are going to come into play in the US because if Circle K and 7-Eleven become one, they’ll be much bigger than the nearest competitor,” Fiona Wilson, Monocle’s Tokyo bureau chief, tells The Monocle Minute. There’s a further issue in Japan that could upset the business model. “Everything happens at a Japanese minimarket. In the case of natural disasters, they have really come into play in the past. So there’s a sense that it’s critical domestic infrastructure.”

Gonzalo Gout and native New Yorker Larissa Lawrence are co-founders of Vinos Enteros, a Mexico City-based wine-import company that brings Old World wines to the capital’s high-end restaurants. Here, they tell us about how they met and why Mexico is well positioned for the business.

What made you join forces professionally?
Larissa Lawrence: For me, this has been my only entrepreneurial venture, though it was something that I always wanted to try. One reason was that I met someone who knew as much about wine as I did. But there was a deeper connection there in terms of work style and intellectual curiosity. It felt right to make our interest into something bigger.

Why is Mexico City such an important place to introduce Old World wines?
Gonzalo Gout: Mexico City is in such an interesting place geographically. It has such a close proximity to the US but also a deep-rooted history with Europe because of Spain. Old World wines tend to have more of a story behind them. There’s such a vibrant food culture here so it made sense to introduce something new.

What place does wine have in today’s culture?
LL: Gonzalo and I recently took a trip to meet a winemaker. We were in a bucolic setting near Italy’s border with Slovenia. We sampled some rosé di Cialla. There was a light breeze and we drank and spent the afternoon there in the sun. That sort of magical moment is the place that wine has in culture.

For our full interview with Gonzalo Gout and Larissa Lawrence, tune in to episode 662 of ‘The Entrepreneurs’ on Monocle Radio.

We meet Josh Bradshaw and Charlie Karlsen, founders of luxury catering company Opus 11, who tell us about creating high-end, bespoke dining experiences for their impressive roster of clients, including major fashion brands such as Chanel, Cartier and LVMH. Then we head to Switzerland to meet the owner of a Zürich-based watch brand focused on local craftsmanship.