Issues

Why does everyone want to be a member of Madrid’s Real Club de Campo Villa?

It’s 08.30 and slivers of sunlight shine through the pines of Madrid’s Real Club de Campo Villa. Its general manager, Juan Carlos Vera Pró, starts the day with a lap of the grounds in his Volvo. At about 250 hectares, the prestigious country club sprawls across rolling hills between a busy highway and the Manzanares river. The architecture, sport facilities and golfing greens cling to Madrid’s past but the club’s popularity – it currently has 35,000 members and a long waiting list – proves that it’s very much a part of the present. “We are always thinking of ways to improve our installations,” says Pró, who stops to show Monocle the busy driving range.

Appointed in 2019 by the incoming mayor, Pró swapped national parliament, where he had held a seat for 26 years, for the club’s copious sporting arenas. Here, there are 240 horses, an equestrian club, hockey, croquet and padel, as well as 34 tennis courts. Pró says that he spends a lot of time handing out trophies. “Last week I awarded more than 600 kids participation medals for a hockey tournament.”

Only five minutes’ drive from the city centre, these tranquil lawns are among the best places in the Spanish capital to disconnect from the daily grind. We are shown the site where a planned virtual training centre will help the club’s 14,000 golfers to improve their swing. To ensure that the putting schedule is fair, there’s a lottery-like system that was “developed to alleviate any squabbles around availability – and to prove that there’s no favouritism”, says Pró. It makes sense: some 6,000 members are expected to pass through the gates this coming weekend.

These days, the club provides escape from stress but its history reflects the complexities of Spain’s past political turmoil. In 1930 a group of well-to-do youngsters, including a duke and a count, were so disgruntled by price hikes at another country club that they founded this establishment on their own land. Some adjoining hectares from the crown were added too. A year later, following the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic, the land was ceded to the local government. When the Spanish civil war ended in 1939, it was turned into a private institution until 1984, when today’s public version of the club was launched, and – in a move that reflected the new open spirit of Spain – 6,000 new members were admitted.

Officially, Real Club de Campo Villa is owned by Madrid City Council, which has a 51 per cent stake, with the remainder split equally between the national heritage department and the Royal Spanish Equestrian Society. Annual memberships are priced at €950, though new admissions have been frozen for several years. Monocle is told that fresh places are only made available when there is a voluntary renouncement or a death.

An exception was made, however, for Rafael Nadal, who was recently made an honorary member after hosting a charity tournament at the club. Last year, Spain’s king bestowed a royal honour of sporting excellence, prompting a small but regal change to the club’s logo.

Meanwhile, at the Chalet de Arriba – Real Club de Campo’s event space, which is known colloquially as Club Social – the scent of jasmine perfumes the air and a perfectly framed view of Madrid’s skyline can be seen across the valley. Designed by architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto in 1931, the clubhouse possesses a frozen-in-time feel, lending it an embassy-like charm.

In the afternoons, tables fill with friendly games of bridge and canasta. Inside the adjoining café, people read newspapers, while others sip cortados sitting on leather chairs made by Spanish firm Casa & Jardin. Outside, on the driving range, the crack of an eight-iron sending the ball skywards is the only sound you can hear.

How The Lobb Club became Bangkok’s coolest tennis hangout

As the padel craze sweeps the globe, tennis remains a smash hit in Thailand. In wealthy Bangkok neighbourhoods, courts rival swimming pools. One of the Thai capital’s seemliest new openings is The Lobb Club, which started out with a conversation between five friends on holiday in Mallorca. Enamoured with the Spanish island’s approach to socialising around racquet sports, this group of young entrepreneurs decided to create something similar at home, roping in two more friends.

The founders spent six months trying to find a plot of land near Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok’s main artery, before settling on Yan Nawa, a residential district in the south of the city. The up-and-coming area is near the central business district and home to an increasing number of high-rise property developments and international schools. This colourful take on a classic sports and social club, which opened in March, has transformed a former metals warehouse into two courts, five tennis simulators, a pickleball court and an ice bath. The Lobbar restaurant overlooks the on-court action and invites players to enjoy a post-match feast of Thai rice dishes, including pad kaphrao (stir-fried beef with a fried egg) and khao khai khon (creamy omelette). “We want to create a place in Bangkok to hang out and play sports,” says co-founder Ruchchapa “Pung” Jaochakarasiri, who intends to turn an empty building adjacent to the clubhouse into a wellness facility.

The 29-year-old architecture graduate heads to the club after her day job at a property developer. Most of the owners work full-time – the club draws on each of their skill sets, from branding to marketing. And it has paid off. A few months in and The Lobb Club has become a popular destination for workers aspiring to be the next Paradorn Srichaphan, Thailand’s most famous tennis pro. Booking a court is already competitive and there is talk of a second outpost as landowners with vacant plots vie for a slice of the action.

Fashion label +351’s Lisbon café kiosk lets you get to know the brand over coffee – and a game of backgammon

The quintessential Lisbon street scene isn’t complete without a quiosque – one of those small huts that you’ll spot on squares across the city, serving drinks and simple snacks. Here, residents and visitors can grab a takeaway espresso or perch on stackable Gonçalo chairs for a chat with friends.

These islands of urban activity have always been important to Lisbon native Ana Penha e Costa, the founder of fashion label +351. “They’re great neighbourhood meet-up spots where people can gather to unwind and socialise at any time of day,” she says. That’s why the designer has taken on the lease of a classic quiosque in front of Estrela Park and painted it a fetching blue and white. It offers coffee and beer, plus pastries from Isco bakery, alongside +351’s cotton T-shirts, caps and sweatshirts featuring prints inspired by gammon. Visitors to the kiosk, which is open from Wednesday to Sunday between 13.00 and 20.00, can even play a casual game of backgammon – sometimes with the designer herself.

Her next play? Penha e Costa plans to host DJ sets and happy hours (something she has already experimented with at her Rua da Boavista boutique in downtown Lisbon). “It’s a great way to interact with people who might not know my brand, while also giving them a taste of Lisbon city life.”
plus351.pt

Further reading:
Monocle’s complete city guide to Lisbon

Inside Galeto, Lisbon’s legendary counter-culture classic

How homegrown talent and old-school buildings created a retail revival at New Bahru, Singapore

In the food hall, Fico, the pasta kiosk by Puglian chef Mirko Febbrile, has already sold out. Walk-ins waiting for a spot at the izakaya-style Dumpling Darlings have streamed into Stacked Store for some retail wandering while they wait for their table. At gelato boutique Parlour, customers find themselves in a long line with time to deliberate: mango-passion fruit or coconut sorbet? It’s Friday night at New Bahru and the place is full.

While shops struggle for survival around the world, the Lo & Behold Group in Singapore has alighted on a business model that’s drawing enviable footfall and catching the imagination of local brands. It’s also attracting the attention of envious international developers and city planners who want to understand how it has created a vibrant food and shopping concept that’s adding to the city’s quality of life and entrepreneurial vitality.

Wee Teng Wen, Lo & Behold’s founder, launched the first elements of New Bahru in 2024. His retail and hospitality cluster – on the compound of a former school and an adjacent garment factory on the city’s Kim Yam Road – quickly took off and now attracts two million visitors a year. And Monocle is here tonight for the opening party of the final components of New Bahru: the Factory Block and School Hall. The Factory Block, adapted by Shanghai-based architects Linehouse, adds a communal dining hall and a floor for retail and casual dining. The design is a homage, says Linehouse’s co-founder Alex Mok, to the department stores of yesteryear that have lost their place to modern malls.

On this opening night, the place speaks for itself. Queues aren’t just forming at the door. There’s also a waiting list for prospective tenants. New Bahru now houses 62 brands across F&B, retail, wellness, hospitality, culture and craft. More than 90 per cent are homegrown independents. The few international names, such as Japan’s Beams, which has opened its first directly operated Southeast Asian flagship here, arrived with the Factory Block.

Global names matter for homegrown tenants because, says Wee, they broaden who walks through the door. “Someone who comes for Beams will leave having discovered three or four local brands. That kind of cross-pollination is exactly what the cluster is designed to do.”

Many businesses here arrived with little or no physical presence: some are online brands making the leap to bricks and mortar, while others have first-time founders still finding their footing. For the ambitious and independent, New Bahru offers below market rents and longer leases than what’s typical. “These things buy a young brand the room to breathe, rather than spend every day fighting to make next month,” says Wee.

Lo & Behold’s networks, marketing and programming muscle, grown over two decades, also come with the lease. “A founder shouldn’t have to figure all of that out alone,” says Wee. “We bring this to the table so they can stay focused on their craft.”
newbahru.com

Further reading:
Monocle’s complete city guide to Singapore

From Singapore to Tokyo, here’s what clean cities get right

In Singapore, the cleaning never stops. Between all the sweeping, rubbish clearing, hose downs, grass cutting, tree pruning, repair work, renovation and repainting, maintenance feels relentless. It’s sometimes performative: the lift gleams most brightly when an MP visits. But the result is a city that’s enviably spotless.

The unpleasant state of the country’s public toilets, however, remains a persistent issue. Government taskforces and a restroom association are working to fix the problem, aided by etiquette posters, star-ratings systems, smile-or-frown feedback panels, deep-cleaning grants and penalties for offending premises. Enforcement extends to inside the cubicle: on paper, if not in practice, there’s a fine for forgetting to flush.

In the war on rubbish and poor hygiene, Singapore might be closer to victory than most other metropolises. Paris has been fighting its own public-toilet battles for far longer. A pipi sauvage (wild peeing) is a local habit that’s as old as the city; to address it, the French capital has deployed uritrottoirs, street urinals that resemble flowerpots. And to deal with dog mess, it sent in Motocrottes (literally “Crudmobiles”): a now-retired scooter fleet that vacuumed pavements. Despite such efforts, the Métro hasn’t shaken its historic reek and pooch-related pavement hazards persist.

Across the Channel, fly tipping has become brazen: London recorded 480,000 incidents from 2024 to 2025. The city is combatting this with drones, name-and-shame campaigns and fines but, according to the Local Government Association, the penalties don’t match the severity of offences. Tony Travers, the associate dean of the London School of Economics’ School of Public Policy, has a word for where this can lead if it continues unchecked: “grotification”. The term, intended to contrast with “gentrification”, describes the decline of streets and neighbourhoods into squalor.

By the start of this decade, New York had lived with rubbish and rats for so long that these had stopped being seen as problems and become accepted as facts of life. In 2023 the then mayor, Eric Adams, declared cleaning up a priority and appointed a “rat tsar”, a (human) director of rodent mitigation. He followed this with his “Get Stuff Done” campaign; its centrepiece was a “Trash Revolution”, in which sealed bins replaced loose rubbish bags and surveillance cameras were deployed to catch illegal dumpers. The pavements became passable again and the rodent population declined.

There has been plenty of improvement but the job remains unfinished. The rat tsar has left office and the work of getting stuff done is now on the to-do-list of the current mayor, Zohran Mamdani. “In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, no New Yorker should have their sidewalks covered in garbage,” he has said. Let’s see what happens.

If even the world’s richest and most cleaning-obsessed cities still struggle to stay free from grime and litter, what hope is there for the rest? Kigali is an interesting case study. Today it is considered Africa’s greenest, safest and cleanest city. Significantly, Rwanda called on Singapore’s urban planning firm Surbana Jurong to draw up the strategy. But the city’s cleanliness isn’t just the achievement of politicians, planners and an army of sanitation workers. Every last Saturday of the month, the capital pauses for a mandatory community-service programme called Umuganda. Shops and roads close, and everyone – or, at least, enough people to make a difference – rolls up their sleeves. Critics see it as authoritarian but Kigali’s transformation is hard to dismiss.

Then there’s Japan, which takes an enlightened, educational approach, rather than resorting to fines, public shaming or decrees. Its people have internalised the ideal of cleanliness to such an extent that it has become cultural. Children take responsibility for looking after their classrooms. Fans pick up rubbish when leaving even the rowdiest baseball game. Volunteers descend upon Shibuya in central Tokyo on weekend mornings to clear what the night has left behind. People’s upbringing instils a sense of duty that keeps the whole country tidy.

Every city needs to educate its residents about how to maintain their neighbourhoods and give them the right conditions to do so. And it requires good infrastructure, such as bins that are regularly emptied. But most importantly, it must foster a sense that these things matter and inspire people to leave things a little better than they found them.

Pedalling advice: How an architect truly gets to know a city

Being a travel guide is part of living in a foreign city. Every expat has received requests from family members, friends and acquaintances for recommendations. Sometimes they’re looking for tips for a good bar or restaurant; at others, they want a whole itinerary. My first attempt at putting together a guide to Shanghai took the form of an email. Updated and tweaked for every incoming visitor, this list has evolved over the years into a PDF and a keepsake to share. I have lost track of who has it now.

Earlier this year I helped to curate a “24 hours in Shanghai” guide for a Chinese design platform. AI travel advice is on the rise but there’s clearly strong demand for local knowledge and trusted human touchpoints. This is especially true in China, which has an entirely different set of search engines, apps and maps to the West. It can be far harder for non-Chinese speakers to find reliable tips online through a layer of translation, while understanding the cultural nuances to identify honest reviews among all of the bot-spawned listings.

I feel fortunate to have arrived in Shanghai from London when I did. It was 2009 and proper smartphones and apps such as Wechat didn’t exist yet, so Drew – who is now my husband – and I would get around on our bikes using physical maps. The best were stacked up at the arrival hall of Shanghai airport and available for free. We had done a bit of cycling in the UK but those trips (from Land’s End to John O’Groats, for example) were more about the journey. After arriving in China, we pedalled all around, determined to get to know our new home.

It was one of those freewheeling expeditions that led us to a basement storehouse in Yangpu selling old Phoenix bikes, an iconic Shanghai brand founded in the 19th century. We had discovered a treasure trove of old frames in the basement, painted in China Post’s pine green or China Electric’s blue and gold. After buying up the lot, replacing the original components and selling a few more than we expected, our bike shop Factory 5 was born. We soon started producing our own frames and components, tapping into a community of people looking to explore Shanghai on two wheels. That bike shop was the first home and project for our architecture studio: Linehouse started out on the mezzanine floor above the noisy workshop.

The skyscrapers in Pudong are probably the first things that come to mind when you read this but, at ground level, Shanghai is a flat city that lends itself perfectly to cycling. The traffic can seem daunting at first but it moves like a synchronised dance, making room for everyone on wheels. Bike-sharing schemes have become a part of the furniture here and compared to the 2010s – when the trend first took of and pictures of broken, discarded bicycle mountains flooded the internet – the quality of such services is much improved.

I continue to cycle everywhere every day. I drop the kids of at school on one of our commuter bikes and, on weekends, we all ride down to the Huangpu river or up to Suzhou Creek, stop for lunch and bring along any visiting friends. I take the bike to site visits if I can arrive looking respectable. Why? Convenience, exercise and to clear my head. I like observing and feeling the rhythms of the city.

In a place such as Shanghai, which has almost 25 million residents, I see things change in real time and my days are brightened by the sight of that which stays the same, at least for a while: the fresh fruit stall with the white cat, the sycamore trees that line the route home, the local noodle shop. Weaving through the traffic, a short cut through the little lane, a nod and a smile to the curious uncle who squeezes a tyre and asks how much my bike cost.

I’ve been taking these journeys for the past 17 years so it sometimes feels as though there aren’t many roads left unrolled. That gives me a rare perspective on Shanghai’s guide-book-worthy offerings. The pressure of distilling the best of your beloved city into a series of lists and bullet points is up there with choosing a favourite film or song – and there are always more details to add and things to update. Be sure to make a reservation, don’t forget that the crab-roe xiaolongbao (a kind of dumpling) must be eaten with vinegar and ginger, and… Oh, did Bastard move location? Shanghai’s restaurant and hospitality scene is ever-changing and so is our city guide.

Now in its fourth iteration, we have corrected the beginner’s mistakes, formatted it for phones, included photos and added graphical maps to group options in one glance. Arguments with foodie friends about which jianbing (pancake) stand is the best has put us through a rigorous taste test. Now, as I cycle around the city, I keep coming back to the same realisation – that Yunnan place is missing. I must update our guide and reshare.

I say “our” guide because these days the job of updating this list involves the entire studio sampling our way through the city. As architects, we see Shanghai through a very multicultural and creative lens. Food, places or things with a nostalgic, historic or local quality fascinate us. This can be a simple bowl of scallion noodles or the Ho Tung Villa that sits in the middle of the new Shaanxi Road development. This collision of the old and the new is one of the reasons why we call Shanghai home and why I am happy to get on my bike and be a guide.

Ten years ago we almost took Norman Foster for a ride. He is a keen cyclist and I still have the itinerary that we mapped out for him. He was in his eighties at the time so I insisted on coming along. Unfortunately, his trip got cancelled – but Norman, if you’re reading this, we’re still here whenever you want to get on your bike and see another side of Shanghai.

Three new-generation, millennial mayors reaching across the US political divide

1.
Mattie Parker, Republican
For the first millennial mayor of a major US city, all politics is local.
Fort Worth

Upon taking the oath of office in June 2021, Mattie Parker, who was then 37 years old, became the first millennial mayor of a major US city. It wasn’t a claim to fame that the lawyer sought. “I have an old soul,” she tells Monocle. But having cruised to re-election in Fort Worth in 2023 and 2025, she concedes that her “age and generation have been a strength on most days”.

Now 42, Parker has overseen a generational shift in governance in Texas’s fourth-largest city. Though the cattle town has grown into Dallas’s twin city, with a population of more than a million residents, its charter stipulates that its mayoralty is a part-time role, with a modest salary of $29,000 (€25,000). “My husband jokes that it might cover my dry-cleaning bill,” she says.

Before Parker’s election, it was common for a retiree to hold the office. But social media and the 24-hour news cycle have “turned this into a full-time type of job”, she says. “There’s no off switch.” Despite this, Parker, who has a chief of staff, holds down another part-time role as chief of staff to the CEO of a children’s hospital. The juggling that this involves hasn’t gone unnoticed by Fort Worth’s residents. In May they approved the doubling of her salary.

That vote of confidence has come as she attempts to stay focused on local issues at a time when municipal politics is becoming more national. “People are moving to our city because we have a very commonsense approach to governance – streets, streetlights, parks, libraries, public safety,” she says. “Cities that are well run fend off partisanship and ideological breakdown.”

Though Parker is a Republican, she admits that her party’s brand is “increasingly messy”. A former Texas mayor chief of staff and congressional district director, she had a front-row seat to the growing polarisation of US politics. She cherishes the chance to serve in an officially non-partisan elected office that allows her to break with party dogma. She complied with the White House’s dismantling of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives but still touts Fort Worth’s diversity. And she isn’t afraid of government spending, leading the charge for the largest bond issue in the city’s history.

“I have principles and beliefs but my job is to build consensus and improve quality of life for every single resident, regardless of the party that they belong to,” she says.

However, she’s not afraid to draw a line between her position on public safety and those of her rivals. While her 2021 opponent, the chair of the local Democratic Party, dabbled in “defund the police” rhetoric, Parker made hiring more officers (as well as firefighters) a central part of her manifesto. “‘Back the blue’ doesn’t have to be partisan terminology and we can reject the ‘defund the police’ movement,” she says. “Any American city that wants to be successful has to adopt that philosophy.”

That conviction is paramount for the mother of three. She speaks to Monocle via telephone while dealing with her shirtless 10-year-old son. Higher office, for now, holds little appeal. “I can serve as mayor and be home for my family,” she says. “Public service needs to be treated as a calling, not a stepping stone.”

Parker’s modesty recalls the writer and intellectual Gore Vidal’s famous line: “Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.” Perhaps – who knows? – higher office does beckon for Parker. At least she knows that time is on her side.

2.
Justin Bibb, Democrat
The political moment demands energy and decisive action, says the 39-year-old Midwestern mayor.
Cleveland

Justin Bibb understands all too well the key concerns of his fellow millennials. “Our generation of voters is frustrated with the pace of change and the status quo,” he tells Monocle. The Democratic mayor of Cleveland, Ohio’s second-largest city, lists the climate crisis, the cost of living and housing affordability as his cohort’s principal worries – and his own too. “I’m one of them,” he says. “I can’t afford to buy a home yet.”

The connection that Bibb has with the US’s largest electoral group helped him to sweep to power as Cleveland’s second-youngest mayor in 2021, when he was 34. Cleveland native Bibb was previously an intern for former US president Barack Obama, then moved into strategy for finance and tech start-ups before returning to public service with his run for mayor.

His 2021 slogan, “Cleveland can’t wait”, promised energetic renewal for the metropolis of more than 360,000 people, tapping into younger people’s frustrations during the coronavirus pandemic and offering a sense of hope for the future. But while it was Cleveland’s younger voters who helped to propel him into office, Bibb quickly understood that their problems didn’t exist in a vacuum. Addressing generational inequality meant dealing with various interlinked economic and social issues. Without safe streets and streamlined processes, businesses wouldn’t want to invest. And without the solid, well-paying jobs that come with investment, people couldn’t afford housing.

“The through-line of my campaign and our governing agenda has been prioritising a core set of issues that affect every Clevelander, whether you’re a working-class black senior on the East Side or a new Gen-Z graduate from Ohio State,” says Bibb. His first term was an exercise in transforming the city into an attractive destination for businesses, while taking on the scourges of the property market, including a crackdown on predatory landlords and investing $2m (€1.7m) to tackle homelessness. Clevelanders clearly felt that he was making good on his promises. Last year, he was reelected for a second term, increasing his share of the vote from 63 to 74 per cent.

Today, Bibb is excited about a huge waterfront development project on Lake Erie, industrial rejuvenation and pushing forward his innovative housing programme. He has seen other millennial mayors approach these issues with similar gusto. “We’re bringing a different level of energy and excitement, as well as a ‘Let’s get shit done’ attitude, that’s speaking to this political moment right now,” he says. He wants politicians in Washington to sit up and pay attention. “Americans don’t trust members of Congress,” he says. “They don’t trust whoever’s in the White House right now. But in many cases, they do trust their mayors.”

With crucial midterm elections in November, when the Democrats have a chance to win back the House of Representatives and the Senate, Bibb thinks that highlighting the successes of Democratic mayors is key to flipping red seats blue. “If the Democratic Party wants to win more elections – if it wants to expand its map and be more credible – what better champions than Democratic mayors in red states who are fighting a good fight and solving problems?” he asks.

Bibb is the president of a coalition of Democratic mayors in Republican-run states that brings them together “so that we can work across the aisle to solve some of the biggest issues facing America”. He is also a co-chair of the bipartisan National Housing Crisis Task Force. The issue of affordable homes dominates chat groups with other millennial mayors in cities across the US, says Bibb. In Cleveland, he is continuing to forge innovative solutions, including a $100m (€86m) fund aimed at creating thousands more units of affordable housing, a new portal to streamline development permits and investment in modular homes.

He is also optimistic that the $5bn (€4.2bn) “Shore-to-Core-to-Shore” project that will redevelop and connect the Lake Erie shoreline and Cuyahoga Riverfront to Cleveland’s downtown can boost jobs, investment and housing stock over the coming years. Then there’s the $1.6bn (€900m) renovation of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. All of which is leaving Bibb hopeful that cost-of-living and climate refugees abandoning the large coastal cities will choose his Midwest home to put down their roots. “I want Cleveland to be the new capital for jobs and investment as we enter this next chapter of America’s economic story.”

3.
Matt Mahan, Democrat
The mayor bringing a fresh sense of ‘compassion with accountability’ to his city.
San Jose

Matt Mahan steels himself as he heads into neighbourhoods in San Jose, California, with a hard proposal to sell: to build homeless shelters where the median house price is $1.5m (€1.3m). Homelessness is a pressing political issue for US mayors, as the number of people sleeping rough hits record highs. It’s acute on the West Coast, where big cities and state governments are dominated by the Democratic Party. Many perceive tent encampments – associated with litter, crime and fires – as a symbol of the failures of blue-state governance. The 43-year-old Mahan wants to change his party’s reputation.

The California native brings a data-driven approach to governing the Golden State’s third-largest city. Convinced that he could effect such change state-wide, in June he ran to become California’s new governor. He was the youngest candidate by almost a decade in a field that included former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Joe Biden-era cabinet member Xavier Becerra and billionaire Tom Steyer. Though Mahan lost the June primary, the fact that he polled well enough to make the debate stage proved that he is among the vanguard of a nationwide millennial cohort with less ideological fervour. “There’s a politics of pragmatism that younger leaders are bringing to the table,” says Mahan.

He describes his approach to homelessness as “compassion with accountability”. Shelters built on his watch provide security and case management, while enforcing rules such as no drug use or weapons. They prioritise beds for rough sleepers in the vicinity so that neighbourhoods quickly see improvement. The city enforces a camping ban for a two-block radius around them to make it clear that taking help and heading indoors are the only options.

This walks the fine line between fed-up residents who want a magic bullet and activists who see enforcement as criminalising poverty. “No, we can’t just ban camping and make thousands of people magically disappear – that’s not a practical or ethical solution,” says Mahan. “But also, no, we can’t allow people to camp anywhere they choose. If you have an unmanaged tent encampment, you have made it harder for people in interim housing to turn their lives around.”

At community meetings, Mahan has endured irate members of the public shouting at him. But lately the tone has changed. “Now I have people thanking me,” he says. The reason for this is that his proposal works. The number of unsheltered homeless people in San Jose has fallen by a third since Mahan took office in 2023. (Critics suggest that the figure is closer to a quarter.) Left-leaning forms of government that deliver measurable results are in the zeitgeist, partly thanks to books such as Marc Dunkelman’s analytical history Why Nothing Works and Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson – and Mahan has seized that mantle. “My generation and younger voters do not have the luxury of performative politics.”

From Bangkok to Bogota, these 23 innovative urban initiatives keep people moving and joyful

1.
A bike-storage gear shift
Biketti, Helsinki

Some cities pour millions into cycle lanes but then ignore the final metre. Finnish firm Biketti aims to fix that with wooden storage solutions. The units come in various sizes, holding between 10 and several hundred bikes. They keep cycles safe and offer self-service access for repairs and cleaning. Some also feature storage for helmets and clothing. “We use ethically sourced timber and have architects to make sure that our bike garages not only function well but also look good,” says Janne Kalliomäki, CEO of Biketti. For now the market is Finland but don’t be surprised to see them elsewhere soon.
biketti.com

2.
Technology that creates a more active city
Coco Robotics, Los Angeles

If you live in a US city (or a Finnish one, for that matter) you might have seen Coco Robotics delivery vehicles pootling around, as autonomous driving becomes an increasing part of our lives. One of Coco Robotics’ more surprising partnerships was announced in April 2026: a collaboration with BlindSquare, the leading accessible GPS app for the blind, deafblind and partially sighted. As Coco’s fleet gathers data while travelling the streets, information on obstacles gets fed back to BlindSquare, which provides alerts for its users. The scheme is available in six cities, from Miami to Turku.
cocodelivery.com; blindsquare.com

3.
A good case of thinking small
El Parque Gulliver, Valencia

Valencia’s beloved El Parque Gulliver is a 70-metre sculpture for children to clamber over. The structure recreates the arrival of Jonathan Swift’s titular character in the land of Lilliput, as recounted in the classic novel. Installed in the 1990s by designer Rafael Rivera, the playground is tucked inside Turia gardens and was recently refurbished. Almost 100,000 people a month flock to it during the city’s sticky summers. Nearby are giant chessboards, picnic areas, running tracks, skate parks and – importantly – a bar in which to sip on something cold while the children burn off some energy.

4.
Connecting spaces
Green Bridge, Bangkok

When Benjakitti park was extended earlier this decade, edging closer to Lumpini park by absorbing a swathe of land, City Hall built a temporary elevated walkway to link the two green spaces. In May, a permanent walkway called Green Bridge was unveiled, taking runners, walkers and cyclists safely across two roads and over the rooftops of a dense inner-city neighbourhood. The landscaping, lighting and lanes for pedestrians (using paving stones for delineation) make for pleasant early morning or late-evening strolls that show off canals, colourful temples and tall towers.

5.
Mental fitness matters
Goodlife Studio, Singapore

Singapore’s strategy for ageing emphasises staying socially connected and mentally sharp. Leading the charge is Montfort Care, which partnered with Singapore practice DP Architects to co-develop the concept of Goodlife Studio. The centres host activities for seniors such as carpentry and tea appreciation. The former have been especially successful in building support networks among men, who research suggests are at greater risk of social isolation. “We have crafted borderless environments that are welcoming and foster interaction,” says CEO, Chee Huang Seah.
montfortcare.org.sg; dpa.com.sg

6.
A free leg up
Bam Park, Milan

Finances shouldn’t stop the elderly from accessing exercise that keeps them limber. Bam Park in Milan’s Porta Nuova neighbourhood is alive with activities. It holds a free exercise class for the over-65s every Thursday at 10.30 between April and October. Bam has other events focusing on mental and physical sharpness – all of them free – including a metabolic walk (Tuesdays at 13.00) designed to help digestion, posture and circulation.
bam.milano.it

7.
Promoting a promenade
St Kilda Pier, Melbourne

A jewel of Melbourne’s St Kilda neighbourhood is its historic quay, which was refurbished by architecture firm JCB in 2024. The heritage kiosk was retained while wood that was removed from the structure was used for benches. Paths were widened, toilets refreshed and curved amphitheatre seating introduced. At dusk, mast-shaped poles cast a soft glow – designed to not disturb a colony of penguins – while keeping the jetty alive for evening sprints and cold-water dips.
jcba.com.au

8.
Critical infrastructure can be a picnic
East River Park, New York

East River Park is a major initiative to safeguard Lower Manhattan from rising seas. Alongside flood protection for more than 110,000 residents, lining the waterfront are raised lawns, basketball and tennis courts, picnic and barbecue areas, a playground and play fountains. The park is also now more accessible than before, thanks to a pedestrian bridge over the buzzing FDR Drive.
nycgovparks.org

9.
Make space where you can
Namba Parks, Osaka

With a population density of 12,500 people per square kilometre, Osaka is one of the densest urban environments on Earth. But Namba Parks, completed in 2003 and designed by architect Jon Jerde, proves that green initiatives that get people outside can work in the tightest of spaces. Winding through a retail complex, the parks contain eight storeys of organic terraces, including groves, streams, ponds and waterfalls. The crowning glory is Parks Garden, open to the public and home to more than 500 species of plants.
nambaparks.com

10.
Get your skates on
Fucikarna, Prague

Skateparks shouldn’t be eyesores and nobody knows this better than U/U Studio. The firm’s team skate themselves and focus on the intersection between urban planning and skateparks as hangout spots for young people. Their latest ‘skate plaza’ opens this summer on the site of a former outdoor cinema in Mnichovo Hradiste, north of Prague. It comes complete with ramps and rails, as well as integrated seating, cupboards and clothes hooks to keep bags and equipment safe and dry.
uustudio.cz

11.
A company that gets the blood pumping
Metta Running House, Mexico City

Run clubs are a dime a dozen: risibly, many are online. Metta Running House, however, is a concept shop, featuring brands such as Nike and Hermanos Koumori in Mexico City’s Polanco neighbourhood. It revolves around all things real-life running – from branded races to a club membership with access to on-site lockers, showers and space to recover.
mettarunninghouse.com

12.
A little cycling insight
Bicycle School, Tirana

Albania’s capital, Tirana, is pioneering a model that transforms open spaces into mocked-up miniature cityscapes, where children learn the rules of the road in tandem with how to ride a bike safely. Opened in 2024, Bicycle School features scaled-down replicas of pedestrian crossings, roundabouts and cycle paths that run through pocket parks, as well as other road markings that young participants will come to recognise, ready for when they are old enough to cycle through the city in earnest. When that time comes, it’ll feel like child’s play.

13.
Adapt the resources that you already have
Sea Lanes Canary Wharf, London

While not every city waterway can be as clean as those in Copenhagen or Zürich, technology can help. Swimming pools offer places to swim without needing to clean an entire river, canal or channel. For years, London has had little in the way of a recreational relationship with such features but Sea Lanes Canary Wharf, which opened in June, is a watershed moment. The 50-metre pool, filled with water from the Eden Dock and independently from the River Thames, uses filtering membranes to make the water safe for swimming. Flanking the pool are dome-shaped wood saunas fuelled by renewable energy, with seating and foliage making it ideal for Londoners seeking to relax. While the thought of swimming in the Thames isn’t at the top of most Londoners’ to-do list, this neat solution is attempting to turn the tide.
sealanescanarywharf.co.uk

14.
Splashing out on public pools
Cape Town

Though the first public pool in Cape Town opened in 1908, in recent years the number has dwindled as resources have been cut. The city’s ambitious mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has swum against the tide by investing ZAR40m (€2m) to get them open again, after identifying their civic importance – particularly for those unable to access the coast’s cool waters. During this year’s southern-hemisphere summer, all but one of Cape Town’s 37 pools were open for business, enticing 660,000 visitors during the course of the season. Having an affordable place to take a dip matters – other City Halls should take note.

15.
On the waterfront
Ookwemin Minising island, Toronto

Designed as a flood-protection and river-restoration project, the new park and island (formerly Villiers Island, now named Ookwemin Minising) doubles as a year-round recreational space for the public. It also acts as a hub for indigenous heritage, with shade provided by ceremonial structures, space for powwows and plenty of native greenery. Other highlights include kayaking, paddleboarding and canoeing; on land, there’s an event lawn, playgrounds, picnic areas and 6.1km of pedestrian and cycling trails – all with Toronto’s skyline as a backdrop.
latfoundation.org; waterfrontoronto.ca

16.
Making energy is a bright idea
Solar cycling track, Hyderabad

Indian megacity Hyderabad offers its cyclists 23km of shaded corridor that runs alongside two stretches of the city’s outer ring road. It also has a second function: it has no ordinary awning but, instead, 16,000 solar panels generating 16 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 32,000 streetlights). The track includes rental-bicycle points, electric-bike charging pods, food stalls and rest zones. While some issues have been raised, from maintenance to keeping enough rental bikes running, it’s moving in the right direction.

17.
Giving the right protection
Aspern Seestadt, Vienna

It’s no use providing outdoor facilities if they’re too hot in summer and drenched all winter. The first phase of Elinor-Ostrom Park, which runs beneath and to the side of a raised metro line, was completed in 2021. “The park’s shelter from the weather and the cool shade make the area well suited to sports uses,” says Jakob Kastner, open-space planner at Wien 3420 Aspern Development, the company behind Aspern Seestadt. There are year-round sports facilities and a bouldering rock for children, a motor-skills park and a cycling area, plus tables and benches. In short, a masterclass in how to build protected outdoor space.
aspern-seestadt.at

18.
Offering some relief
The Tokyo Toilet, Tokyo

In 2020, 16 celebrated architects were handed an unusual brief: redesign public lavatories in the Shibuya neighbourhood for a project prosaically titled “The Tokyo Toilet”. The result? Properly democratic designs by everyone from Shigeru Ban to Masamichi Katayama and, arguably more importantly, toilets that are cleaned three times a day. The glistening results mean none of the dread that often accompanies having to use public facilities in other locales, allowing residents and visitors to run further, wander longer and fully inhabit the city around them.
tokyotoilet.jp

19.
Getting the lights right
Nudgee Recreation Reserve, Brisbane

Lighting manufacturer Ewo was founded in Italy in 1996 and has been pioneering a less glaringly bright take on LEDs for a decade. It has cemented itself as a high-end player covering everything from homes to airports while looking to reduce energy waste and mitigate light pollution. Many cities have taken a shine to its floodlight system, which was developed for sporting occasions. Take the state-of-the-art Nudgee Recreation Reserve project in Brisbane, in which it worked alongside lighting engineering firm Rubidium Light to create perfect illumination for everything from a bike track to a dog park.
ewo.com

20.
Community clean-ups
Plogging, Bogotá

How do you improve an already positive fitness activity? By making sure that it’s not only yourself benefitting from it. Plogging, a wonderfully named social movement so simple that you wonder why it hasn’t been done before, combines litter picking with run clubs and sporting events and has become a way of bringing back civic pride while also burning some calories. Originating in Sweden around 2016, the name merges the Swedish words plocka upp – pick up – with jogging. Plogging Colombia is one of the most successful adoptions of the green-minded initiative to date.

21.
Encouraging small but impactful change
Bolzano, Italy

Sedentary urban populations need good leadership to become fit cities. In the northern Italian foothills of the Dolomites, the metropolis of Bolzano recently launched an advertising campaign in both Italian and German called “Fit: il movimento è salute” (Fit: Movement is Health), counselling the benefits of an active lifestyle. The ad campaign shows how small changes can make a big impact, whether it’s walking instead of taking the tram or doing some stretching instead of lounging in an armchair at home. The one we’re less convinced about is how you can combine brushing your teeth with five minutes of light exercise at the same time.

22.
All natural-material playgrounds
Palma, Mallorca

More than 50 years ago, when Hamburg-based social worker Hilde Richter was tapped to design an urban children’s playground, she imagined a natural wooden model rather than the harsh steel structures of the 1960s – one that would imitate children’s instinct to incorporate sticks and stones into playtime. Today, the Bavarian-based Richter Spielgeräte creates playgrounds that connect children with nature, sourcing wood from the Austrian Alps. In Mallorca’s rural Castell de Bellver Park, Richter Spielgeräte constructed swings, monkey loops and a balance course that blends in with the playground’s sand and surrounding fir trees.

23.
The stadium doing more than just sport
São Paulo, Brazil

The Pacaembu stadium is a São Paulo icon, hosting some of the country’s most significant football matches. Inaugurated in 1940, the stadium underwent an extensive makeover at the hands of Raddar, an architecture firm based in São Paulo and Mexico City, and emerged as a multi-use space complete with an athletic track and an Olympic-sized public pool in which locals swim for free. The community-focused complex is also home to the country’s Football Museum, ensuring a steady stream of fans even when there are no games to watch. It just goes to show that while sport is great at bringing people together – good design can turn a stadium into a social hub.

Our top-10 books to holiday with this summer. Plus: must-visit bookshops around the world

1.
‘Lonely Crowds: A Novel’ by Stephanie Wambugu
Selected by Kelsey Lu

“I relate deeply to the narrative and characters in Stephanie Wambugu’s 2025 book Lonely Crowds: A Novel – but in vastly different ways. It’s certainly not my story but it takes a very capable writer to make you feel seen in this way. It’s funny too, making it a truly great read for summer. I found myself having to slow down as I was approaching the end, out of fear that I was finishing it too quickly.”

Lu is an American singer and cellist.

2.
‘Is a River Alive?’ by Robert Macfarlane
Selected by Jessica Gardner

“Since my childhood, summer has meant outdoor swimming in creeks, rivers and the sea. So what better book to immerse yourself in than Robert Macfarlane’s 2025 work Is a River Alive? Part environmental treatise and part memoir, the author explores our relationship to nature and humanity through his journeys along three rivers in Ecuador, India and Quebec. This is a deeply poetic and spiritual book, beautifully written and peopled by friendships, so the narrative moves with their stories, as well as the flow of water.”

Gardner is the Cambridge University librarian and director of library services.

3.
‘King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution – A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation’ by Scott Anderson
Selected by Kaja Kallas

“I have read many books on Iran but this one from 2025 stands out as being very well written, almost like a thriller. I just couldn’t put it down. Anderson looks at the time around the 1979 revolution but from a different angle. This is an especially relevant read today, as the geopolitical consequences of the revolution are playing out again in real time.”

Kallas is the vice-president of the European Commission.

4.
‘Democracy’ by Joan Didion
Selected by Zosia Mackenzie

“Joan Didion’s Democracy feels perfect to revisit this summer. I first read it years ago but I have been thinking about it again because its atmosphere feels newly relevant: themes of political drift, emotional detachment and the fading glamour of American power. The 1984 novel unfolds in a haze of tropical heat, political scandal and private disillusionment – where memories fragment, motives blur and chronology slips. Within that instability, Didion creates an eerily precise portrait of a culture shaped by performance and its selective memory. Democracy understands that history is often shaped less by ideology than by mood, memory and the stories that people decide not to tell themselves.”

Mackenzie is the production designer for the film ‘The Drama’.

5.
‘In the Name of Identity’ by Amin Maalouf
Selected by Ibrahim Maalouf

“In a time when cultural and identity fears are pushing people against one another, In the Name of Identity feels more necessary than ever. My uncle Amin Maalouf reminds us that we are never just one thing and that embracing our multiple identities is a strength, not a threat. This beautiful, lucid book, published in 1998, reconciles us with complexity, curiosity and humanity. Reading it this summer is not escaping the world – it’s facing the future with intelligence, openness and hope.”

Maalouf is a trumpeter and composer.

6.
‘The Elements of Power’ by Nicolas Niarchos
Selected by Lucas Zwirner

“I’ve been recommending that people read Nicolas Niarchos’s 2026 book The Elements of Power. As someone attuned to value and global networks, I found it totally gripping. The book makes colossal geopolitical forces feel immediate, interconnected and even tangible. It quietly but decisively shifts your world view.”

Zwirner is the chief commercial officer at David Zwirner art gallery.

7.
‘This Mouth is Mine’ by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar
Selected by Citlali Fabián

“This is a 2024 collection of essays by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar, a Mixe [a language family with speakers in Oaxaca, Mexico] linguist and one of the wisest voices from my region.With warmth and wit, she writes about Mexico’s indigenous languages and the quiet politics that erase them – an open letter that draws us into her life and experiences. ”

Fabián is a mixed-media photographer based in Mexico.

8.
‘Summer Light, and Then Comes The Night’ by Jón Kalman Stefánsson
Selected by Pietro Biancardi

“At times, being far from the world’s noise opens us up to the call of the heart and the senses. A tiny village of 400 souls in the Icelandic countryside becomes a magnifying glass on the eternal tug-of-war between human desire and the threads of fate. By blending poetic magic with an unrelenting wit, Stefánsson searches for an answer to the question, ‘Why do we live?’ Every page of this 2005 book is a revelation that hits deep, making us laugh, cry and dream.”

Biancardi is the publisher at Iperborea publishing house.

9.
‘All Fours’ by Miranda July
Selected by Maike Cruse

“There are books that I love reading because they allow me to escape my own thoughts and immerse myself in a character’s world. All Fours by Miranda July, from 2024, is one of those books. It’s about midlife crises, new beginnings and menopause. July’s characters are quirky, contradictory and a bit adrift. They nurture bizarre fixations and construct fanciful dreams, holding on to these with all their strength. Their inner worlds are relatable yet so offbeat that they provoke laughter and tears – occasionally simultaneously.”

Cruse is the director of Art Basel in Basel.

10.
‘Beginning Middle End’ by Valeria Luiselli
Selected by Olga Campofreda

“A mother, her daughter and the mythical landscape of Sicily over a summer. This 2026 book is the story of a woman looking for a new beginning after a divorce, while at the same time trying to start a new novel and looking after a 12-year-old girl. Merging memoir, road narrative and reflections upon female lineage, Valeria Luiselli’s latest work feels less like a novel than a new literary form altogether, where storytelling itself becomes an act of survival and reinvention.”

Campofreda is the curator of the Miu Miu Literary Club.

Our favourite bookshops

Looking for a quiet spot to browse the shelves? Here are 10 bookshops that get the Monocle stamp of approval.

Llibreria Finestres, Barcelona
Visit all three outposts for their superb book selection and innovative interior design.

Kalemat Bookstore, Dubai
With a quiet café and views of the Dubai skyline, Kalemat is a literary haven.

Good Company Books, Lisbon
This English-language bookshop emphasises Lusophone literature in translation.

Daunt Books, London
Leaded skylights, Edwardian shelving and a minstrels’ gallery make Daunt spectacular.
Read more: Leaf through London with 10 bookshops that are bound to please

Albertine, New York
Housed in a Gilded Age mansion, Albertine stocks the US’s largest commercial collection of French literature.
Read more: New York’s 10 best lesser-known bookshops

Librairie 7L, Paris
Established by the late Karl Lagerfeld, the sleek 7L focuses on photography, design and haute-couture publications.

Ogaki Shoten, Tokyo
This Kyoto-based bookshop’s first Tokyo outpost has a café and hosts exhibitions.

Livraria da Travessa, Rio de Janeiro
This beloved spot has exemplary curation and is set to expand with more outposts.

Gleebooks, Sydney
A cherished bookseller in Sydney for more than 50 years, Gleebooks has three locations.

Never Stop Reading, Zürich
This design-savvy shop is stacked with books on architecture, photography, art and design.

Eight iconic Mediterranean shoe styles and the brands keeping their heritage fresh

From the heelless babouches found across North Africa and the Middle East to the cotton-velvet slippers of Venice, the Mediterranean basin is home to a variety of shoes whose stories are rooted in the native sand and soil. We round up eight distinct styles from across the region and spotlight the brands that have been reimagining these traditional footprints for modern-day holiday wardrobes.

1.
The espadrille
Spain

Espadrilles were originally worn by peasants in the farming communities dotted across the Pyrenees. The name derives from esparto, the tough grass that is used to braid their soles. Castañer, a Spanish label founded by Luís Castañer and his cousin, Tomás Serra, has been preserving this craft since 1927. However, espadrilles fell out of fashion until the 1970s, when French designer Yves Saint Laurent approached Castañer to create a wedged version, turning it into the summer fashion statement that it is today. We’re pairing ours with swimming trunks during the day and linen separates for sunset hour.
castaner.com

2.
The jelly shoe
France

For many French people, childhood memories of les grandes vacances are synonymous with colourful jelly sandals. The shoe was invented in 1946 by French fashion brand Méduse as a water-friendly alternative to leather. Eighty years later, the silhouette remains unchanged: made from a single block of injection-moulded PVC, it features a spiked sole for grip, a rounded toe and braided straps. Each pair is manufactured in western France in colours ranging from cobalt blue to glitter pink via muted options such as khaki.
meduse.com

3.
The clog
Portugal

These funky, high-toed clogs are made in Barcelos, a town in the northwest of Portugal where sturdy wooden soles were needed to navigate the rugged mountainous terrain. Slowly, they clopped south, becoming a beach favourite in the Algarve. Today, the making of these shoes remains largely unchanged: delicately perforated leather is tacked to a wooden sole with metal studs. A Vida Portuguesa, the Lisbon shop that champions craft from across the Mediterranean region, offers some of the most elegant iterations.
avidaportuguesa.com

4.
The balghas
Morocco

Known as balghas across the Maghreb, these textured slippers are a contemporary twist on the Moroccan babouche. Paris-based brand Calla produces a modern-day version, using another craft associated with Morocco, weaving. The result is these fluffy slip-on styles created from recycled Berber rugs. “I love the spontaneity of the process and the texture of these styles,” says Calla Haynes, the founder of Calla. “I’m proud to be putting Moroccan work on an international stage.”
calla.fr

5.
The Venetian Friulian slipper
Italy

In Friuli, an agricultural region northeast of Veneto, women have been upcycling jute sacks and inexpensive cotton velvet to create slippers since the 19th century. Gondoliers adopted the shoe with a simple upgrade: a non-slip rubber sole. Today, the slipper is paired with linen suits for summer evenings or thrown into beach totes for post-swim lunches. Venetian label Piedàterre makes some of the best, using 100 per cent cotton velvet embellished with small glass beads.
piedaterrevenezia.com

6.
The lace-up sandal
Greece

The Greeks are responsible for many innovations, from modern medicine to democracy, but one of the country’s most understated contributions is found on the foot. The Greek sandal can be traced back to the Minoan era (3000 to 1100BC), becoming a sartorial staple around 1200BC. More recently – in 1920, to be exact – George Melissinos established his sandal workshop at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. His son, Stavros, later took on the business, reigniting the popularity of lace-up Greek sandals. Today, his daughter, Olgianna, runs the family firm with aplomb and continues to offer custom designs for a perfect fit.
melissinos-sandals.gr

7.
The mule
Turkey

In Turkey, the silk-and-cotton kutnu textile, known for its slight sheen, is associated with the 17th-century courts of the Ottoman empire. Today, Istanbul-based label Anatolian Craft uses the fabric to create slippers that possess a similar opulence. Each pair is embroidered with beads and ribbon by artisans who create whimsical patterns of flowers or birds. Founded in 2016 by the former architect and designer Bilge Can, the brand draws on the cultural history of the Anatolian region to preserve embroidering techniques that are passed down from one generation to the next.
anatolian-craft.com

8.
The babouche
Lebanon

A sartorial mainstay of the Middle East and North Africa, the babouche was born in Persia. Suited to arid climates, the shoes are also easy to remove for salah (prayer). From Morocco to Tunisia via Lebanon, variations on the style include rounded or pointed toes, suede or leather options and soft or hard soles. Today, the babouche embodies a certain bohemian sensibility and is seen everywhere, from the streets of Paris to the Mediterranean seaside. We particularly like these striped babouches by Beirut brand Liwan, which makes handmade versions using satin, silk or brocade fabrics – a modern revival of a classic.
liwanlifestyle.com