Issues

Close quarters: What are the defining factors of a liveable urban area?

1.
Fremantle, Australia

Western Australia’s Fremantle – or Freo (“Free-O”) as it’s known – may technically be a suburb of Perth and its port, but the area’s distinct history and tight-knit creative community make it a place unto itself. While the 30,000 or so people who live here affectionately describe Fremantle as a “bubble”, downtown Perth (30 minutes away by car or train) is a place to venture only if strictly necessary. “It’s like a small town where everyone knows everyone,” says Blaze Young, executive chef at Nieuw Ruin, a restaurant on Fremantle’s Norfolk Street. Young was born in Fremantle but grew up “way out in the bush” and moved back as an adult. “This is a really beautiful, open and welcoming community. There are no downsides.”

Fremantle’s beautifully preserved Victorian and Edwardian architecture points to its heyday as a 19th-century maritime hub and there’s a mix of colonial red-brick houses, ornate wrought-iron balconies and gothic revival-style churches. Bricks-and-mortar retail is thriving too: the high street is a bustling mix of cafés, wine bars, bookshops, fitness studios and art galleries. The ocean is a few minutes’ away and walking and cycling paths trace the shoreline, leading to pristine sandy shores such as Bathers Beach and the seaside Esplanade Park. Families with young children crowd the playground and wander along the shore. “We have the best beaches in the world by far,” says Young with utter conviction. Every afternoon in the summer, the “Freo Doctor”, a colloquial term for a seasonal sea breeze, blows in from the sea, cooling the whole town.

In the past few years a spate of new cocktail bars, breweries, restaurants and speciality cafés opened, injecting new energy into Fremantle’s dining scene (but the classic seaside fish-and-chip spots are still not to be missed). Fresh seafood and local produce dominate bistro menus and wine lists run pages long, taking advantage of Fremantle’s proximity to Margaret River, one of the country’s best wine regions. Good Things Café on Bannister Street has become a weekend brunch institution, to the extent that its owners have been stopped on the street by loyal customers demanding to know when their favourite seasonal dishes are returning to the menu. 

A quiet cultural backwater it isn’t: Fremantle’s arts scene, one of its best-known features, has deep roots. Former shipping warehouses and a Victorian-era asylum now serve as exhibition centres and artists’ studios, such as the colourful J Shed, while independent art galleries populate many shopfronts around town. Amy Grasso, a Fremantle resident who juggles a day job at an apothecary with her textile art, which she makes in one of the J Shed studios, co-organises “creative meet-ups” for local artists. “We’re trying to organise community support for creatives,” says Grasso with a grin. “A lot of artists live in Freo.” Indeed, there are frequent weekend and summer markets featuring Fremantle artisans, dressmakers and ceramicists. “It’s a place that artists have always been drawn to,” says Carine Thévenau, a photographer who grew up in Fremantle and moved back from Sydney last year with her husband and daughter. Before heading to the beach, she drops a parting refrain that Monocle became very familiar with on our trip. “Freo has everything we need.”

2.
Kita-Kamakura, Japan
Just a short journey from Tokyo by train, Kamakura offers a very different perspective. The city of 171,000 sits on Sagami Bay, spreading back from a wide sandy beach into the hills. It might not be immediately obvious from the laidback surfer vibe of today but Kamakura was once the religious and political heart of Japan and, in the 13th century, its second capital. The remnants of that era are everywhere, in dozens of temples, shrines and gardens. 

Just a few steps away from Shokado is Cipollino, a bistro where the daily menu includes a fresh pasta with local vegetables and seafood from Zushi, just along the coast. Owner-chef Shuhei Koizumi’s grandfather had a Japanese restaurant in Kita-Kamakura. “I trained in Tokyo,” says Koizumi. “But I always wanted to come back.” One woodworker here is still operating at age 79. His family shop, Tomono Furo, which sells cedar bowls, stools and chopping boards, has been in Kita-Kamakura since 1814. “I started when I was 10 and I make everything by hand,” he tells Monocle. “Things you buy online can’t compare.” 

Kita-Kamakura (North Kamakura) is a lush, woody enclave a couple of kilometres inland and surrounded by hills. Streets are leafy and low-rise, and the elegant tone is shaped by the historic Zen temples that stretch along the road. Shokado is a confectionery shop on the main street run by Tomoko Kurihara and her brother; their father opened the business in 1961 and today they sell traditional Japanese sweets. “This is a friendly neighbourhood,” says Tomoko. “People look out for each other.” Outdoor activities are also prominent. “If you grow up here, hiking is part of life,” she adds. One of the most popular trails leads up from Kita-Kamakura, along a ridge and down into Zuisen-ji temple in the east of the city. 

Last year furniture collector Thierry Lamoine and his wife, Arrow Nakajima, opened Galerie One in a pre-war kominka (wooden house). A short walk from Kita-Kamakura and next to the peaceful temple of Kakuon-ji, the beautifully preserved house is the perfect backdrop for Lamoine’s exceptional finds by architects and designers such as Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. “The furniture looks much nicer than in a white cube in Tokyo,” says Lamoine, who also has a gallery in Paris. “Knowing our customers is the biggest asset of the Kamakura gallery: collectors can sit, have a drink and take time to tell us which pieces they like. They never stay less than one hour.”

While the tranquillity of Kita-Kamakura makes it a great place to live, those after a more vibrant proposition can hop on a five-minute train to central Kamakura, where there are bars, restaurants and food shopping in the ichiba morning market. The traditional Kamakura scene of hato-sabure (dove-shaped shortbread biscuits) and craft shops is still there but it has now been joined by outdoor brands, coffee shops and a Muji restaurant. Some things never change though: just stand on the beach and take in that perfect sunset view of Mount Fuji.  

Back in Kita-Kamakura, residents have the place to themselves, the only audible sounds emanate from the trees and the forested hills (and perhaps the clink of wine glasses at Cipollino). “It’s very quiet here,” says Tomoko Kurihara. “That’s how we like it.”

3.
Chiaia & Vomero, Italy

“I wouldn’t go to any other city in the world,” says Giò Nardi as he shows Monocle around his apartment in Naples’ upscale Chiaia neighbourhood. Like so many we speak to during three days in the city, something drew Nardi, a DJ and events organiser, back to his hometown after some time away. It might have something to do with the Bay of Naples glistening away in the distance just outside the window. “I can swim before work or go to Capri at weekends,” he says. “It still feels authentic here.”

Naples’ stretch of coastline isn’t the Côte d’Azur – but that’s the point that Nardi is making. Neighbourhoods such as Chiaia feel rooted in place rather than transformed into tourist playgrounds; community still exists. One resident we meet by the district’s waterfront, who gives his name only as Andrea, says that he has lived in Miami and Barcelona but Naples always wins due to “the Neapolitan’s heart; a Neapolitan will always help you”, before zipping down the Viale Anton Dohrn on his BMW CE 04 electric motorbike.

Naples’ top spots
Giovanni Bausan the restaurant Cap’alice 28/m Via Giovanni Bausan the outdoor space Villa Floridiana Park the cultural centre Thomas Dane Gallery thomasdanegallery.com the shop M Cilento & Fratello cilento1780.it

Chiaia is one of the city’s most liveable quarters, with shops, bars and restaurants at its centre. As you retreat from the shore and up into the hills, it becomes populated by 18th and 19th-century villas, plus the occasional Liberty beauty. Nardi calls the area “a good compromise” between the centre – teeming with history but chaotic and full of tourists – and more residential Posillipo further round the coast.  

That sense of warmth is shared by Lucrezia Maspero, a tennis instructor originally from Milan, who met her Neapolitan husband in Rome and moved to the city eight years ago. We meet in the Villa Floridiana park in Vomero, a leafy neighbourhood with spectacular views, that sits immediately above Chiaia. “People are very close here,” she says. “You feel immediately at home.” And while she admits that it lacks playgrounds for her two children and other civic amenities, she can still jump in a canoe and explore the coast or be in woodland in less than an hour.

Back in Chiaia, gallerist Federica Sheehan shows Monocle around the Naples outpost of London’s Thomas Dane gallery, open since 2018. Set in a grandiose 19th-century villa, Sheehan says that Chiaia has the “space and light” that the centre lacks. She also explains the neighbourhood’s deep contemporary art roots, pioneered by art dealer Lucio Amelio and continued by the likes of Studio Trisorio and Galleria Lia Rumma.  

In the evening, people are drinking aperitivo on Via Bisignano, while children play football and adults fish off rocks on the waterfront. Restaurants and taverns such as Cap’alice, Osteria della Mattonella or Vomero’s historic Gorizia pizzeria mean that it’s hard not to eat well. Over at Jus natural wine bar and restaurant, small dishes including luvaro (a local fish) served with a strawberry vinegar and celery, and anchovy fillets accompanied by fragrant bergamot butter, can all be washed down with a glass of minerally Greco di Tufo white wine. 

Jus owner Diego Amura left a job in telecommunications to follow his passion for wines in 2021 and hasn’t looked back, helped by the fact that his commute is precisely a three-minute walk. “I love it here. I practically live on the sea and arriving at work is a joy,” he says, before pausing for a moment. “The sea changes everything.”

Business agenda: The case for democratising aviation and the magazine business in Manila

Elevated insights
Private pilot perspectives

Private and commercial pilot Edwin Brenninkmeyer is betting big on the future of aviation. “The sector has changed a great deal. Chiefly, funding is increasingly available to help make aviation more sustainable,” he tells Monocle.

As the founder and CEO of Oriens Aviation, which is based in Biggin Hill (home to a private airfield) and is the exclusive Pilatus and Tecnam UK aircraft distributor, Brenninkmeyer knows the business from inside and out of the cockpit. “Aviation is a conservative industry,” he says. “New technologies have a hard time gaining certification and acceptance but I’m convinced we will succeed as long as people don’t get frustrated and lose interest.”

His passion for flight started at a young age. “I always loved model aeroplanes,” he says. He earned a private pilot’s licence at 17. But Brenninkmeyer’s career initially followed a different trajectory. His early professional years were spent in retail, gaining insights into leadership and team management. After a stint in venture capital watching the growth in the aviation sector, he returned to the skies. “There was a big opportunity in the mid-2000s with technology entrepreneurs producing cost-effective jets,” he says.

The company was founded on a vision of democratising business aviation and provides services including sales, charter management and plane maintenance. Business is booming, especially in the US. “The whole infrastructure there is very different from Europe,” he says. “Seventy to 80 per cent of US business aviation customers are middle management, so it’s not just for the rich and famous,” he says. Brenninkmeyer hopes to change attitudes closer to home too. “In Europe business aviation is often seen as a frivolity rather than a practical tool to save time.” With the company’s values and foundation set, his focus is ethical business and refined hospitality. “If you have a good culture within your company, that translates to your customers.”

Brenninkmeyer is keen on opportunities to support the industry and the investment it’s receiving for innovation. “If you’re developing hydrogen-powered aircraft that are more environmentally friendly, what infrastructure will those aircraft need?” he says. “That’s the next step.”

For more top-flight stories, tune in to Monocle Radio’s business show ‘The Entrepreneurs‘.

Paper state
Magazine mecca

Spruce Gallery opened in Metro Manila at the end of 2023, close to the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank. Both share a similar mission to provide life-improving infrastructure – on a different scale. While the bank finances dams, the gallery is plugging a media hole in the Philippines’ largest metropolis. “We are the only magazine store in the entire city,” says Ric Gindap, who founded the gallery with his business partner Bonnapart Galeng.

The smart space displays imported magazines alongside a rotating art exhibition. Galeng sits at the counter to provide recommendations, while chairs invite lingering. The absence of a website encourages visitors to come here to discover new titles, as well as create a community around print. Competitive pricing is another draw.

Gindap and Galeng decided to act when the major bookshop chains gave up on stocking print titles. “They just pile up the back issues in one corner and expect people to respond,” says Gindap, who was the editor of Memo magazine when Galeng joined in 2006, eventually becoming its fashion editor. “Our DNA is really in magazine creation,” says Gindap.

The response to Spruce Gallery has been both encouraging and educational. Independent titles have been flying off the shelves faster than they can be restocked, while venerable or established fashion glossies have been slower sells. Teens and twenty-somethings are buying text-heavy publications with few pictures; The Paris Review and The Monocle Companion (our own paperback essay series) are bestsellers. “These kids are bombarded with digital images all the time,” says Galeng. “They’re a reading generation and want to hold something that’s tactile.”

Star glazing
Ceramic excellence

The small Japanese city of Tajimi, famous for its rich clay soil, has a 1,300-year history of pottery. The city has been at the centre of Japanese tile production since the early 20th century and 90 per cent of tiles made in Japan now come from here – an output offset by smaller makers producing tiles using traditional techniques.

Masashi Kasai founded Tajimi Custom Tiles (TCT) in 2020 to connect architects and designers with skilled makers who could produce bespoke tiles that had the handmade feel of pottery. TCT’s presence recently expanded in Tajimi thanks to a new gallery and kiosk where designers can peruse samples, order from its semi-custom range (39 shapes in 100 colours) and buy one-off pieces.

Kasai wants TCT to grow and, buoyed by the low yen, overseas sales have been brisk, with projects for luxury brands and Melbourne’s new Parkville Station. TCT’s Zürich-based creative director, David Glättli has also introduced collaborations with international designers to display possibilities.

“Factors beyond our control, such as interest rates, can affect our sales,” says Kasai. “But the overseas market for Japanese tiles is definitely expanding.”
tajimicustomtiles.jp

Global perspectives on urban wellness: How do we build equitable cities?

1.
Fairness and the Empire State
David Bodanis

The race to build the tallest building in New York could have resulted in tragedy, but the Empire State Building made a point of treating its workers well – and won.

The Chrysler Building is the most beautiful skyscraper in New York, all glistening art deco and huge metal gargoyles. It’s the backdrop to many superhero films but, tellingly, when King Kong came to visit the city, he didn’t consider wasting his time there. Who wants to stand atop something merely shiny, when you have military biplanes to bat away, while clutching the love of your life? You need to be bigger and higher. You need, in fact, the Empire State Building – for nearly half a century the tallest skyscraper on the planet.

The Empire State is my favourite tower in the New York skyline – and not just because of its proportions. When it was conceived in the late 1920s, it managed to masterfully balance the notion of quality of life with the needs of the urban environment. It’s a landmark that we should be pondering to this day for that very reason.

The Roaring Twenties were a great time to be rich: the Jazz Age with free-living women in narrow dresses; fast cars and speakeasy saloons; and great new music. For most other people, however, it was rather miserable. There was a rough depression in farming regions and, when unemployed farmers did make it to the cities looking for work, construction foremen knew that there were so many of them (and they were so desperate) that even the lowest wages would be accepted.

The planners behind the Empire State Building took a different approach. What if instead of stiffing their workers as much as they could – paying low wages, taking deductions for random costs and making them go up even on the most dangerous, wind-roaring days – they did the opposite? That meant paying wages at double the going rate and offering quality restaurants on-site as the tower was going up. Plus, no one ever had to go out on exposed beams when the wind was howling – and they would be paid regardless.

Imagine those conditions for a moment. It’s the opposite of many construction sites today, especially in autocratic states looking to turbo-charge “progress”. We know that bragging about how quickly a project is completed in these places is often a sign of workers being exploited. But not when it came to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street between 1930 and 1931, even though it went up fast – at one point rising by four-and-a-half floors a week.

It sounds like a fairy tale but that misses the gratitude that good conditions can produce. Everyone – well, almost everyone (this was still New York, after all) – was willing to go the extra mile. Workers, for example, suggested building a miniature railway line to transport bricks into the site, instead of, as was usual before, stacking them on wheelbarrows to be laboriously pushed along wobbling wooden gangplanks. With a peak of 100,000 bricks arriving in every eight-hour shift, that sped up construction a lot. Electricians also spontaneously came up with wired signalling systems to replace the usual bell ropes for announcing when a shipment was coming up.

None of this would have worked if the owners had been completely naïve or simply too idealistic. Without any supervision, hardly anyone is a saint. Foremen would bill for more men than they actually used and tools would disappear. But the Empire State organisers had survived years in New York construction, a life experience which disabuses anyone of belief in the inherent benevolence of humankind. They sent in auditors to clamber through the building twice a day, checking that the workers were where they were supposed to be. Other sets of auditors counted the tools and the materials. The result? Construction was completed in just 13 months.

Despite the benevolent high salaries and excellent working conditions, and despite the street-smart idea to thoroughly check on progress along the way, the building might not have ended up winning the race to be the tallest. When Walter P Chrysler, the Kansas boy who had made a fortune in automotives and wanted to claim domination of the New York skyline, found out how high the Empire State was aiming to be, he decided – in good old capitalist fashion – to cheat. With the workers sworn to secrecy, he had his architect quietly build a 56-metre-tall glass and metal spire. To keep it hidden, workers brought it up through the Chrysler Building in unrecognisable parts and then performed the final assembly inside the empty top floors as the building was still going up. One morning they used hoists to push that spire up through the top of their building. It perched right on top – creating a structure that they were convinced would outdo the Empire State.

Which meant that the Empire State had to cheat right back. Everyone knew the transport technology of the future wasn’t just propeller planes but also lighter-than-air zeppelins. In the late 1920s they were doing a roaring trade carrying wealthy passengers across the Atlantic but the nearest dock was 80km away in New Jersey. What if the Empire State had a new mooring mast stuck on top, something so broad and tall that the Chrysler could never compete with it? A hard build, perhaps – but this is where the committed, grateful workforce came in. Schedules were adjusted, new material was ordered and fresh gantries designed. Walter P Chrysler, a man who hated losing, was forced to give up.

So what lessons can we take away from the Empire State? Cities never stay the same. They’re always changing. Apply the Empire State’s lessons about generosity – sensibly audited generosity, that is – and who knows what can be achieved, from retrofitting for better environmental operation to cleverly converting downtown offices into apartments. We don’t know whether King Kong is ever going to come visiting again. But if he does, what beautiful, humane cityscapes we can create for him to survey.

2.
Nusantara: great hope or white elephant?
Joseph Rachman

Later this year, Indonesia will unveil its newest city, Nusantara, a multi-billion-dollar attempt to unite both the country’s sprawling geography and its complex culture.

There’s a construction site on the eastern edge of Borneo in what was once rainforest and is now a giant eucalyptus plantation. Tnes of thousands of workers swarm across its 6,500 hectares dotted with half-finished buildings. The largest is set to take the form of a giant mythical eagle, or garuda, and house the president of Indonesia. An opening ceremony will be held in August, which seems enormously ambitious given the state of incompletion. President Joko Widodo, due to leave office in September, clearly wants his successor to feel unable to abandon the $32bn (€29.3bn) mega-project.

Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, is raising the usual eyebrows that tend to dismiss such projects as white elephants. And yet Indonesia is far from the first country to embark on such an endeavour. For sceptics, the motivation is either authoritarian megalomania or utopianism. Kazakhstan’s Astana, for example, is a byword for dictator kitsch featuring monumental pyramids, golden towers and the world’s largest tent. Brasília, meanwhile, is usually invoked as a warning against utopian planning. Oscar Niemeyer’s dream of using architecture to abolish Brazil’s class system collapsed on contact with reality.

For those hoping to spin a similar story about Nusantara, there is plenty to work with. It is billed as a “Smart Forest City” that will regenerate nature, but the reaction from environmentalists has been one of scepticism. The digital command centre that I was proudly shown on my visit, with screens monitoring everything from the location of the site’s earthmovers to social media sentiment about the city, speaks to governmental longing to know and control. Even its name, a Javanese word for the Indonesian archipelago, suggests a certain romanticism over practicality.

Leaders have long seen in new capitals a chance to project symbolic potency. Cosmological principles like geomancy (a sort of geography-based divination) played a role in the founding of ancient capitals such as Kyoto, Xi’an and Kaesong. Earthly authority was bolstered by alignment with the divine order. Even today, the location of Naypyidaw, the new capital established by Myanmar’s military, was supposedly chosen in part due to its astrological significance.

With Nusantara, the symbolic significance of its placement closer to the geographical heart of the country is hard to escape. According to Sofian Sibarani, the architect who designed the city’s masterplan, it will also incorporate the Javanese principle of axially aligning the presidential palace with the mountains and the sea. Nowadays, political legitimacy is imagined to spring not from the divine but the national. This quest to capture the national spirit can lead architects to enter realms of stereotype. Brasília’s architect Niemeyer declared that the city’s design was there to echo “curves found in the mountains of Brazil, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman.”

Nusantara carries similar hopes. The style of the buildings synthesises architectural traditions from across Indonesia. The layout, with islands of buildings separated by stretches of green, is supposed to be reminiscent of the Indonesian archipelago. Still, there are reasons to avoid a reflexive sneer, often directed at post-colonial nations. “This strategy is common, not just recently but historically as well,” says Vadim Rossman, the author of a book on capital moves. The projects, he argues, are often more strategically rational than commonly thought. The locations of new capitals often serve practical as well as symbolic purposes, shifting the balance of economic and political power in key regions. Astana helps to defuse ethnic and tribal divisions in Kazakhstan. Brasília develops the Latin American nation’s impoverished inland regions. In Indonesia, geographical balance is a challenge. Tip-to-tip, Indonesia’s 17,000 islands stretch a distance equivalent of London to Tehran. More than 50 per cent of the population live on the island of Java, where Jakarta is found. The idea that relocating the capital to somewhere more central has a logic in a country where politics are marked by resentment about Java-centrism and secessionist movements.

Sometimes, though, the biggest push is simply the unmanageability of the existing capital. Egypt’s plans to move the capital out of Cairo to a new purpose-built city on its outskirts offers escape from not just the traffic of the current capital but also its politically turbulent crowds that brought down the previous Egyptian military regime.

Such calculations might intrude into the desire to escape Jakarta as well. While the current capital’s crowds helped to push the current president to power, they also launched the biggest challenge to his government in 2017 with a series of Islamist rallies against his close ally, the Christian governor Basuki Purnama. Meanwhile, Jakarta’s chaos and the frequency of its flooding is proverbial.

And herein lies the final reason to up sticks and move a capital: physical threat. In the past that meant invading hordes; today that danger is climate-related. Jakarta has sunk nearly five metres over the past 25 years as sea levels rise. Other capitals are also threatened by the weather, with both Bangkok and Dakar vulnerable to sea-level rises. In New Delhi, meanwhile, the heat used to drive colonial rulers to relocate to a summer capital in the Himalayan foothills. With temperatures in central India already turning deadly, a more permanent move could be contemplated.

Capitals are built as visions of a nation’s future – not only as ideals to aspire to, but something projected to last centuries. Nigeria’s Abuja, for example, imagined a post-colonial country that could meet mid-century ideals of modernity conquering nature with concrete, steel and huge roads. Nusantara is the product of a different time, with its designers talking about being not just environmentally sensitive but also resistant to climate shocks. It’s worth contemplating whether Indonesia’s new capital is a vanity project, or simply ahead of the curve.

3.
Why we should value the police
Gregory Scruggs

Measures to make US police departments more attractive to the general public – not to mention their own officers – are falling short. But there is still hope for law-enforcers.

What happens when someone calls 911? Increasingly in the US, nothing at all. On a recent Saturday night, bass frequencies infiltrated my bedroom. Neighbours were throwing a party into the wee hours on the next block. They were in violation of local noise ordinances, which a municipal website informed me are enforced by the police. I called 911 and a dispatcher transferred me to a non-emergency line. I waited in vain, gave up and put in earplugs.

That Seattle’s finest had no time to respond to a loud party was hardly surprising. By the end of last year, the Seattle Police Department was at its lowest staffing level since 1957 – reaching only about 65 per cent of its own staffing goal. Only the direst emergency calls receive a swift response. Noisy neighbours aren’t going to make the cut.

Seattle’s predicament is hardly unique. Police response times are up nationwide compared to the last decade. The chief culprit for this lag time is straightforward: there are fewer cops to respond to ever more emergency calls. Four years after “defund the police” became a nationwide rallying cry, the aftermath has been disastrous for quality of life in US cities amid a nationwide crime spike that is only now subsiding. Though the dead-end slogan has long been jettisoned by any politician hoping to win a competitive election, the damage has been done. Regardless of how much funding was cut from any given police department, police morale nosedived across the board, even if it was mostly left-leaning elected officials who embraced this political rhetoric at the behest of activists.

Officers quit in droves far faster than academies have been able to train new recruits. Depleted departments now triage casework and focus only on violent crimes, effectively ceasing to police comparatively minor offences such as shoplifting, speeding, graffiti or public drug use. As police enforced fewer crimes, a climate of bold lawlessness flourished. Homicide, other violent-crime and property-crime rates soared in 2021 and 2022. Many cities posted their worst crime statistics since the early 1990s. A look at 2023 and preliminary data from 2024 suggests that most crime has finally begun to lessen – except for car theft, which is rising – as the social unravelling of 2020 has quelled and law enforcement begins to re-establish order. But stubborn outliers remain. Take Dallas, a bright spot in 2022 that saw murders increase last year. Or my city, where shootings are double their frequency prior to 2020.

While Seattle still has a low violent crime rate compared to other large US cities, such comparisons are thin gruel for those who spend summer nights trying to distinguish between the sound of gunfire and fireworks. In the worst-hit cities, this level of violence has hampered urban recovery. In April 2023, Brookings Institution began to publish reports drawn from interviews with business leaders in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and Seattle. The consensus was clear: the largest barrier for workers returning to downtown offices was public safety. While it’s easy to malign remote workers for an unwillingness to trade pyjamas for professional attire, the sorry state of affairs in many US cities has been that simply going to work can feel like a dicey proposition.

Against this backdrop, city leaders are rightly pursuing “refund” over “defund”. In March the Seattle City Council approved a pay bump that will push starting salaries for police officers to $103,000 (€95,000), among the highest in the country. The hope is that this will compensate for the drawbacks of working in a big city with its higher crime, media scrutiny and sceptical civil society.

But trying to buy their way out of a policing shortage feels short-sighted. What cities really need to accomplish is making the job attractive culturally, not just financially, as it is for so many other fields. Cities must recover civic pride in policing as an institution. Police department leadership needs to instil in the rank and file a sense of how people live and work in cities.

While mayors and council members across the country are singing a much more complimentary tune about the role of police in their cities, there are still pockets of deep resentment in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent civil unrest that shook the nation. The country seems far from ready for a national truth and reconciliation process. But it’s not too late for respected local leaders to convene both cops and activists for mediated conversation to ease tension. It’s past time for social-justice activists to move beyond childish acab (“All cops are bastards”) sloganeering and start engaging in a more adult debate about the role of police in a civil society.

For their part, police working in a big city should start acting like it. Get out of the patrol car and walk the beat. Last summer, Cleveland cops were required to spend at least an hour per shift on foot. This practice should be de rigueur in all the country’s walkable urban areas. Foot patrols will foster more positive interactions.

Better yet, more police should actually live in the communities they serve. Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia all require officers to reside within city limits; in Atlanta and New York’s cases, cops must live within a certain radius. While police unions complain that this regulation is onerous, these cities also boasted five of the 10 highest police-to-population ratios in the US in 2022. Local residency helps officers identify with the city where they work rather than treat it as a faraway job site, or worse, a hostile territory. Who knows, they might even start to sympathise with a neighbour losing sleep over loud music – and perhaps even issue an infraction.

4.
What we can learn from an ancient marvel
Bettany Hughes

Colourful, cosmopolitan and pioneering in fields of architecture and law – it’s little wonder that sixth-century Constantinople was known as the Greatest City on Earth.

The smell must have hit visitors first: the sultry scent of thick clumps of lavender lining the edges of the royal highway that ran into the heart of the great city. If you rode this processional route, or Mese, from Constantinople’s Golden Gate – built by the Romans and named because it shone with brilliantly polished bronze – you would have been entering the largest and most renowned city on Earth. This metropolis that flourished 1,500 years ago sat between the ancient and modern worlds, between East and West, between the Black Sea to the north and the expanse of the Mediterranean and Egypt to the south across the Sea of Marmara.

Welcome to Constantinople in the year 530. A hub that has had several names during its lifespan, from Byzantium to present-day Istanbul, medieval Constantinople was undoubtedly a golden era, when sobriquets such as the Queen of Cities, the Second Rome or simply the Greatest City on Earth were born.

One of medieval Constantinople’s hallmarks was its verdant, often colourful outdoor areas – the reason that the city brought so much joy to its residents. That previously mentioned central highway, for example, was once lined with vegetable patches, even if today you would be hard pressed to imagine it, wandering around what is now a glitzy shopping street.

Neighbourhoods of the city were colour-coded according to people’s allegiances to chariot-racing teams, with ardent fans faithful to the Reds, the Whites, the Blues or the Greens – passions as fierce as any modern- day football supporters. But the colours didn’t stop there. Special courtiers would sometimes wear red buskin boots and the imperial palace was draped in purple silks, while purple-stone bed chambers inside reflected the royal colour.

The rulers of Constantinople were also pretty extraordinary. Emperor Justinian had originally arrived in the city from rural Illyria (near modern-day Macedonia) and hailed from a family of peasant swineherds. Tearing his way up through the ranks of the imperial bodyguard, he shocked stuffy senators and aristocrats by changing the law so that an emperor could marry an “actress”. Justinian’s fiancée was the remarkable Theodora – a young woman who, we are told, started life as an erotic dancer, the daughter of a bear baiter and a sex worker. Humble origins would not stop these ferocious pioneers. By the end of his life, Emperor Justinian and his beloved Empress Theodora reigned over some two million square kilometres of territory, spanning Europe, Asia and Africa.

The couple set about proving that their second Rome could be every bit as sensational as the first, turning the city into a hotbed of ambition and ideas. The ruling duo reconstructed the great church of Hagia Sophia, complete with a dome that would be the largest on Earth for 1,000 years. A system of sanctuaries and safe houses for refugees and abused women was established.

The pair also set in train a legal code that outlawed infanticide and increased penalties for rape, enshrining the principle of innocent until proven guilty – still the bedrock of most of the world’s legal systems. Meanwhile, their propaganda merchants were sent out to burnish Constantinople’s reputation as a radical new centre of social justice as far afield as Yemen, India, Lower Nubia and even Cornwall, with Justinian distributing subsidies “to the barbarians of Bretannia”.

Constantinople in the sixth century was the city for which the phrase cosmopolitan could have been invented. Physically and psychologically, all points of the compass counted. Those lucky enough to live here at that time could truly describe themselves as citizens of the world.

5.
How the Spanish stay young
Francheska Melendez

The Spanish can proudly boast of their longevity but why do the country’s elderly citizens thrive so well in their later years? Perhaps it’s because they like to party…

Little did I know when I moved to Madrid that it would be the country’s senior citizens who would teach me how to handle myself on nights out. Though I hail from New York, the city that never sleeps, it was in Spain that I learned how incandescent the early morning hours can be. One night at a piano bar, I gazed in admiration as an octogenarian diva passionately sang “La Zarzamora”, a cautionary tale written in 1946 about giving one’s heart to a married man. It was 03.00.

That singer was part of a glittering set of night owls, all over 50, who performed at the piano every night. Yet Spain’s senior citizens’ embrace of the nighttime economy hasn’t hurt their longevity; I’d vouch that it’s part of the reason for it. In 2022 the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs projected that, by 2065, Spain will rank as Europe’s top for average life expectancy behind Japan and South Korea: 92.7 years.

Spaniards cite the Mediterranean diet. But there is something more subtle at work in the sparkling eyes of Spain’s yayos, technically meaning “grandparents” but often an affectionate moniker. While in some other countries, members of older generations are expected to retreat from social life, the opposite is true in Spain.

The world’s longest-running study on longevity, the Harvard Study of Adult Development, found that, often, those who thrive in their golden years have fostered relationships that make them happy. This tracks with what can be seen on any summer evening along the Iberian coast: yayos dressed to the nines out on a stroll, having a laugh, maybe even going for a dance.

Last spring in Seville during La Feria de Abril fiesta, Rocío Tayan, a woman in her eighties, who I had never met before, laid eyes on me as I sang to the music in her pop-up party tent. She made a beeline for me, a bottle of champagne in hand, so we could share a toast. Another yaya teaching me how to handle myself on a night out.

Affairs agenda: Young Danish entrepreneurs, Ukraine’s therapy gardens and eradicating malaria

Nature: Ukraine
Good sense

Mikael Colville-Andersen moved to Ukraine in 2022 after answering an appeal seeking bicycles for internally displaced refugees. The Canadian-Danish urbanist, who made his name campaigning to export Copenhagen’s cycling knowhow, is bringing something else from his European homeland to the wartorn country: Nordic therapy gardens. “Places like these have a history stretching back to the Roman empire,” says Colville-Andersen. “Research has shown that when you sit in a garden surrounded by sensory stimulants, stress is instantly relieved.”

Taking his cue from the therapy gardens found in most Danish towns, Colville-Andersen is introducing the concept to Ukraine – even Denmark’s ambassador to Ukraine has helped out in Kyiv. Colville-Andersen and his team will introduce flowing water, aromatic plants and shaded, private spaces to the gardens. The first garden opened next to a psychiatric hospital in Ukraine’s capital in June, with others to follow in Lviv and Chernihiv. “We need to break through to those struggling with their mental health,” says Colville-Andersen. “I want everyone from doctors to architects to see what we’ve done. Then they can build therapy gardens all across the country.”

Business: Denmark
Members on the board

A co-working space mixing surfing and working doesn’t sound like the type of business you would expect to find in Denmark. But “Cold Hawaii”, as Klitmøller on the country’s northwest coast is known, has lured entrepreneurs and remote workers in search of good waves and a better quality of life. As many Danish towns experience an exodus of young people, Klitmøller is booming. “For the past 10 years, more people have come in than gone out,” says Alexander Bengtsen, co-founder of Surf & Work in Voruper, just south of Klitmøller. Bengtsen, who is Danish but was previously living in Portugal, moved here in 2017 to surf and be closer to nature. Shortly after setting up shop, he saw a demand for a co-working space, so quit his remote-working job and opened the area’s first “entrepreneurial house”.

“We’ve attracted people who are tired of city living,” says Bengtsen of Surf & Work’s 40 members. “Most of them come here and start their own thing.” He, for one, has launched an ice-cream company on the side. Among his peers, many of whom have moved from Copenhagen, are coffee roasters, bakers and café owners who share a love for the ocean. “If there are good waves, we go surfing,” says Bengtsen. “Our focus shouldn’t be on work but on what makes us happy.” On Thursdays, many members go cold-water swimming, followed by breakfast at Surf & Work, where they share sourdough bread from a baker who is also a member.

The hope is to expand into a larger space with more amenities. “It’s not a fancy place but we have good coffee and fast internet,” says Bengtsen. And, of course, the wild North Sea just outside.
surfandwork.dk

Environment: Singapore
Green tracks

A new section of Singapore’s Rail Corridor opened in April, the latest step in a planned 15-year development of a former railway track into a public park and nature reserve. The 24km trail spans the length of the island, from Kranji in the north to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station on the southern coast. The government has launched a public competition for proposals to redevelop Tanjong Pagar, a 1930s-era rail terminus on the Malaysia-Singapore line that closed in 2011. The station received a heritage designation for its art deco architecture but its future use is uncertain. Options include the addition of restaurants, shops, offices and gardens.

Civic engagement has been vital to the Rail Corridor since its inception. Its existence is something of a historical fluke – for more than a century the land it sits on was owned by the Malaysian government and the trains were run by a Malaysian rail operator. As Singapore developed, high-rises sprung up on the track’s fringes, but the Malaysian-owned strip of green lay untouched. Ownership was transferred to the Singapore government in 2011, when the route’s terminus was moved to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, endowing the nation with some of the island’s few remaining bits of undeveloped land. The Rail Corridor now contains some of Singapore’s few patches of primordial rainforest, which conservationists have successfully lobbied to have protected. In such a densely populated country, urban greenery is an essential commodity.

Q&A
Hilary Doe
Chief growth officer, Michigan

Hilary Doe is the first state official in the US dedicated to population growth. She aims to reverse a projected population loss of 700,000 by 2050.

Why are people leaving Michigan and what are they looking for elsewhere? People want opportunities, of course, but great urban place-making is as important as the number of jobs. In Michigan, we have talent gaps and employers with positions that they need to fill. Many of our fastest-growing peer states have higher taxes than Michigan. Yet they have high and rising median incomes, often driven by the knowledge economy, and they retain their entrepreneurs. That’s what we’re focused on in Michigan: a new fund to invest in entrepreneurs. That said, the metropolitan areas driving growth also tend to be walkable and transit-rich. Take Austin, Texas, which is leading the pack in terms of growth but it’s also struggling with high rents and we’re seeing an opportunity there. Detroit, for example, is growing for the first time in years.

How are you getting the word out about Michigan?
At South by Southwest festival this year, the godfather of techno, Juan Atkins, talked about how Detroit birthed the genre. It’s critical that our state own this campaign. I’ve been going all over the state to sit down with Michiganers and enlist them to share their story with people across the country.

Andrew Mueller on stamping out malaria

A few weeks back, this columnist visited Djibouti on a magazine assignment, which went askew thanks to a bureaucratic snarl-up that obliged the photographer and me to spend a night at Djibouti Airport. It provided me with an intimate acquaintance with the local mosquitoes.

Djibouti has a big problem with malaria. This has grown worse following the arrival a decade ago of a pestilential mosquito species: Anopheles stephensi, originally from Asia. Djibouti, with a population of a little more than 1.1 million, believed it had all but banished malaria but now reports cases in the tens of thousands annually. Despite being crammed full of Doxycycline, I was still pleased to observe, on eventually reaching our hotel, the daily dousing of the grounds with powerful insecticide.

I was even more pleased to read, shortly after returning, of the release in the Djibouti City suburb of Ambouli, a swarm of genetically modified Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. The altered bugs are males, implanted with a gene that will prevent their female offspring from surviving to adulthood (only female mosquitoes bite). The idea is that this will eventually breed Anopheles stephensi out of existence.

The scheme is led by US-UK firm Oxitec, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and is a worthy quality-of-life initiative. In 2022, the last year for which the who has figures, 249 million people worldwide contracted Malaria, 94 per cent of whom live in Africa. More than 600,000 may have died. By some estimates, malaria costs the continent €11bn every year in lost gdp. An Africa freed from malaria is likelier to become prosperous, therefore peaceful, therefore less of everyone else’s concern.

When we think of quality of life, we think of improvements in places that are already agreeable. One of the best investments any wealthy country can make in its own quality of life is to invest in someone else’s.

Andrew Mueller hosts ‘The Foreign Desk’ on Monocle Radio.

Design agenda: Paris’s arrondissement culture and Miami’s public-park renaissance

Making an impression
Christophe Delcourt’s Paris showroom

Before housing Delcourt Collection’s furniture showroom, 47 Rue de Babylone in Paris’s 7th arrondissement was home to a photo-developing studio and, before that a piano factory. So it’s no wonder that, when Monocle pushes through the heavy doors leading from the street into the courtyard, there’s an instant sense that this is a space dedicated to craftsmanship.

It was this ambience that attracted Christophe Delcourt when he moved his Paris studio here. “I love its 19th-century-style architecture made from wood and bricks,” says Delcourt of the building housing his office and showroom. “It’s a true atelier made for production.”

It’s an appropriate space for Delcourt to have set up shop, given that he cut his teeth making his own furniture designs by hand, using mostly metal and wood. Today, however, he’s no longer on the tools. Instead, he meets clients in this space, where he draws exceptional furniture pieces and then produces them in collaboration with artisans across France.

“I used to be shy as a designer – too worried about how the pieces would come together, which limited creativity,” he says. “Today I have a liberated creative process because I am supported by the techniques and know-hows of the artisans I work with; the bigger the challenge, the more they are motivated.”

This love for the complex is easily seen in the pieces around the showroom. The Nin table, for instance, has a long, flat surface, with a base that echoes tree branches in a forest. “I’m lucky to live in the countryside, where there are beautiful trees that were planted 400 years ago,” says Delcourt. “For Nin, I was inspired by a cluster of Thuja trees planted so close together that, over time, the branches have all intertwined.”

Though Delcourt might now live in a rural area and work with artisans across the country, Paris – the city where he was born and raised – still has an influence on his work. He tells Monocle that his vision of Parisian elegance in design is the nonchalant art of mixing pieces from different designers and decades.

In reflecting this ethos, the designer doesn’t show the entirety of his collection in his Rue de Babylone space but rather displays a selection of pieces. “In Paris, we really love the idea of mélange,” says Delcourt. “We mix eras, shapes and materials, and we aren’t afraid to blend the personal objects with signed pieces.”
christophedelcourt.com

Comfort zones
The prejudices of Parisians

Let’s face it, Parisians are prejudiced about many topics: clothes, food, jobs (writes Iban Raïs). But the one thing we’re most judgemental about? The arrondissements. Each of the 20 districts have their own rules, style, architecture and cultural life. And so, the arrondissement that a person chooses to live in says a lot about who they are.

Do you live in the 15th? You probably work in finance and have a penchant for sleeveless puffer jackets. Did you just move to the 6th, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés? You want people to know that you enjoy art and old bookshops, and that you’re happy to pay €10 for a latte at the mythical Café de Flore.

Years ago, I made the decision to move to the 11th. This eastern arrondissement is a village with huge social diversity: artists, students and creative people all live together peacefully in an area stretching from Bastille to République square. Here, you can buy the best baguette in town at Gana bakery and enjoy a delicious coffee at On Partage on Rue de Charonne. A short walk away is Mika’s barber shop, where you can gossip about footballers (he cuts the hair of footballers who play for Paris Saint-Germain).

These opportunities afforded in the 11th are personally significant because they reflect my tastes. Perhaps, secretly, I want people to know that I appreciate a busy food scene and a vibrant street life, and my choice of locale does just that. It’s a reminder that where we live is as much about who we are as who we want to be – something that Paris’s varied arrondissements afford.

Raïs is a writer based in Paris.

Line of vision
Miami’s newest linear park

The newest phase of Miami’s The Underline is now open. Landscape architecture studio Gardner 1 Semler extended the initial stretch completed in 2021, helping to transform the vacant land beneath the city’s elevated railway into what will eventually be a 16km linear park and urban trail featuring protected bike and walking lanes, basketball courts, nature and dog parks. The goal is to reclaim an otherwise abandoned space for the city’s residents.

“It’s a citizen-led movement to transform the way we live in our city,” says Meg Daly, founder of the namesake community group that conceived the project. Daly’s team prioritised community consultation to ensure that the plan serves residents. “This phase went through more single- family residential areas, so our focus became about native planting and bringing back birds, bees and butterflies.”

This brief from Daly resulted in Gardner 1 Semler planting 100,000 native plants and 1,000 trees, increasing canopy cover by 36 per cent; it also added a children’s playground. These outcomes highlight the opportunity that brownfield developments present in our cities, showing how forgotten pockets of urbanity can be transformed to serve the community and wider ecosystem.
theunderline.org; gsladesign.com

Nic Monisse on the need to embellish

I’m prone to exaggeration in my personal life, hamming up stories for comic effect. Professionally, however, I’m careful to ensure that it doesn’t creep into my work (after all, as a journalist, I’m in the business of accuracy). And, when I was a designer in a past life, exaggeration was all but stamped out of me. Simplicity and understatement were the hallmarks of the timeless designs to which I aspired.

But a recent conversation with John Pawson – the legendary minimalist British designer – turned everything on its head. “I am sometimes worried that I exaggerate too much,” Pawson told me, referring to a portfolio of work that, on closer inspection, includes a host of exaggerated elements. There are galleries with grand stone frontages, offices with striking white walls and, in the case of his own home, 15-metre-long Dinesen Douglas fir floorboards connecting several rooms. The latter led to the creation of a new line of furniture with Dinesen, a Danish timber specialist, featuring dining tables, benches, sofas and daybeds made from impressive lengths of Douglas fir and oak.

“If you stand on these wooden floorboards that are 15 metres long and half-a-metre wide, you feel different,” says Pawson of the decision to use them. “With the furniture too, it’s not some little piece of wood but an impressive piece of timber that can change how you feel.”

However, Pawson is keen to impress that exaggeration needs to be employed in the right place and at the right time. Perhaps it doesn’t have a place in my journalism but maybe I can continue to roll it out at the pub. “Did I tell you about the time I met John Pawson? No? Boy, do I have a story for you.”

Monocle’s Quality of Life survey 2024: The 20 best places to live

This is Monocle’s annual ranking of the world’s 20 most liveable cities. People often ask us how we arrive at such a list, the subtext being: how can you possibly compare something that is as complex and multifaceted as a city with another? You probably know that we aren’t the only organisation that attempts such an endeavour. But while other rankings tend to focus purely on hard data, we take a broader, more balanced approach. Sure, it’s very easy to compare, for example, one city’s GDP per capita with another’s and deduce which is the more successful in that respect. But how often do you consider such a metric when making a judgement about where to relocate, recommend to a friend or visit? Like the cities themselves, our opinions of them are based on a variety of factors – some clearly rational but others less obviously so.

In an age when one can consult all manner of worldly information in an instant, we think that it’s important to take a view – we are, after all, editors. If you want a detailed list of metrics comparing every city in the world, there are plenty of repositories for such things. But if you want to know what a city is like to live, work and play in, then you should ask someone who not only lives, works and plays there but whose judgement you trust too. That’s what we do. We have conversations with our correspondents and contacts who reside in the places that we’re ranking. Then, after consulting the data (yes, there are still many numbers involved) – things such as GDP per capita but also the price of a cup of coffee, whether you can get a decent meal after 22.00 and what time nightclubs close on a Saturday (or Sunday) – we discuss the findings among ourselves. After that, we arrive at our decision.

The final top 20 is a combination of science and, dare we say, art – both statistics and less quantifiable things. It considers the past, the present and the future but especially the past 12 months, and how well we feel that a city has done in that time. Every year we also focus on an area of current debate on what makes somewhere a good place to live. It has been remarked upon that in countries such as the US and UK, life expectancy has dipped and some younger generations, for the first time in history, are expected to live shorter lives than their parents. This year we compared average life expectancies in different cities as part of our ranking: quality also means quantity. As ever, we encourage you to disagree and debate us on the top 20. The more people who question what makes cities good places to live in, the better.

Key metrics explainer

Adopt: Initiatives and policies that would benefit the city.
Drop: Problem areas that are holding the city back.

1.
Munich

Germany’s economic engine.
Position in 2023: 03

Munich is literally Germany’s most attractive city. Since 2000, the populations of Berlin, Hamburg, Köln and Frankfurt have grown by about 15 per cent – but Munich’s has risen by almost a third. One reason is the city’s economic and intellectual draws. Of Germany’s 40 largest companies, seven hail from Munich. This has probably contributed to its status as Germany’s most expensive city. But talent is nurtured here. In December the city set aside an extra €668m for building and renovating nurseries, pre-schools and schools; with a total budget of €8.4bn since its inception in 2011, it’s Germany’s largest such scheme. On the other end of the academic ladder, the Technical University of Munich and the LMU München are the country’s top-two universities. The city’s proportion of employees with an academic degree is 41 per cent, also Germany’s highest.

Munich is also the country’s best city for a healthy lifestyle. In an EU ranking of 38 German regions by life expectancy, Upper Bavaria, home to Munich, came first with 82.3 years. One explanation is the city’s access to nature: pristine environs, the river Isar and parks such as the Englischer Garten. New leisure facilities have opened too. Among them is Kunstkraftwerk Bergson, a power station converted into an arts venue. Last year, the city nearly tripled its newly installed solar power capacity with a scheme that supports small panels on private balconies. Munich’s future looks sunny. A worthy winner.

2.
Vienna

The city still improving as it grows.
Position in 2023: 01

Since topping last year’s survey, the population of Austria’s capital has exceeded two million for the first time since 1910. This growth has taken place as the city works to improve its residents’ access to healthcare and leisure: Vienna has increased its number of mental-health facilities for young people, for example, and has upgraded its public swimming pools. There’s also a new beach on the Danube near the UN office. A place for the diplomatic corps to cool off? God knows they need it.

True to its social-democratic ethos, Vienna continues to impress when it comes to affordable housing. In May the city unveiled its newest Gemeindebau (municipal building) containing 118 flats, the 10th such new-build since the programme was restarted in 2015 after a 10-year hiatus. Another milestone came a few weeks earlier when Austria’s parliament voted to give local councils the power to levy a vacancy tax on owners of empty homes. The measure could mobilise as many as 80,000 properties and help to stabilise housing prices.

Last year, Vienna won the EU’s Best Organic City award, thanks to its municipal food brand, Wiener Gusto, which produces flour, lentils, meat and more. In culture, the Wien Museum reopened in December after a painstaking four-year refurbishment. As a bonus, admission to its permanent exhibition, which tells the city’s history in 1,700 objects, is free of charge, a first for an Austrian museum.

3.
Zürich

The health-conscious harbour city.
Position in 2023: 04

Zürich retains its status as that rare thing: a quaint harbour city in a landlocked country where the trains and trams run on time. But you knew that already. What you might not know is that the city’s food scene is currently benefitting from a new wave of young restaurateurs, many of whom are graduates of Switzerland’s celebrated hospitality schools. This means that the service runs on time too. There has also been a spate of infrastructure projects across Zürich, including new tram lines, refreshed train stations and verdant parks in hitherto lesser-served parts of the city.

Last year, Zürich had a record number of overnight stays. And it remains a city in which outsiders are keen to put down roots: more than 30 per cent of residents were born abroad. Many were drawn here by the high living standards (and salaries) but also by the opportunity to live a happy and healthy life. Some 76 per cent of the population exercises at least once a week – an impressive statistic that reflects the wide range of walking, swimming and team-sports clubs in the city, many of which are integral to its social scene.

While Zürich’s residents admirably make the effort to stay in shape, the city itself could do with a little extra maintenance: specifically, the authorities urgently need to get a grip on the widespread graffiti problem. If the city wants to win its bid to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, it should put on its freshest, cleanest attire.

Come rain or shine
Izmir

When it rains in Izmir, a city on Turkey’s Aegean coast, it pours. Most of its entire annual rainfall comes between November and March, while there’s hardly any at all in July and August. In a city of 4.5 million people built on creaking infrastructure, that means lurching between flooding and droughts. Now a project to turn urban surfaces into sponges is helping to break the cycle.

“Sponge cities” are places that modify every surface where water collects to drain it into storage reservoirs. In the dry months, this supply can be tapped. The idea can be adapted to suit a city’s specific needs. Rain gardens and water-retention parks, designed to channel precipitation into underground filtration systems and storage ponds, also increase green space. Meanwhile, concreted areas such as plazas and school playgrounds can be retrofitted with drainage systems.

Launched in China in 2014, the sponge-city concept has now spread across the world. In 2020, Izmir became the first Mediterranean city to adopt this approach. Since then, it has installed 5,000 water tanks on roofs across the city; in March a school was fitted with rain gardens and collection channels. Seepage tunnels and a pond have been constructed on an agricultural plain that was prone to drought. About 10,000 rain gardens have been planted too.

“Wherever there is concrete, it should be turned into something that can suck up water,” says Tunc Soyer, the city’s former mayor who introduced the project. The target is for 70 per cent of the rainfall to be saved, with car parks and cemeteries eventually converted for this purpose. Soyer says that Izmir’s experiment will benefit the entire country and region. “We need to find a solution soon because this issue will get worse with climate change.”

4.
Copenhagen

The future-ready capital city.
Position in 2023: 02

In the 12 months since our last survey, Copenhagen has lost one of its oldest landmarks: Renaissance-era stock-exchange building Børsen, which burned down in April. Needless to say, it will be painstakingly rebuilt. Construction is a theme these days in the Danish capital – a sign of a booming economy. Five new Metro stations will open this year in Valby and, beyond that, Sydhavn, the rapidly growing residential zone on the harbour to the south of the city.

Late last year, Copenhagen opened the new Opera Park beside the Royal Danish Opera House. Designed by Cobe Architects, it has brought some much-needed greenery to the harbour front. But it has also been criticised for its addition of 300 underground parking spaces; many residents feel that the city shouldn’t be encouraging the use of private cars.

The second phase of Copenhagen’s DKK20bn (€2.7bn) expansion onto the artificial island of Lynetteholm began late last year. It will incorporate a ring road and a tunnel beneath the harbour, connecting it to the north of the city. Lynetteholm will also provide homes for 35,000 people, as well as defences from rising sea levels.

Denmark’s first dedicated children’s hospital is under construction, gathering medical services for patients aged 18 and younger under one roof. Designed by 3XN, the €320m project is scheduled for completion in 2026. It’s a big investment in families by a city that’s already well known for its humane generosity.

5.
Madrid

A city mixing business and leisure.
Position in 2023: 08

How can a place that’s as fast paced as Madrid also be so good at kicking back? Clues to the city’s most impressive data point – the life expectancy of madrileños is among the highest in the OECD – are easy to spot. People tuck into meals made from fresh Spanish produce on packed terraces. Colour and creative expression pop from shop windows. Sunbathers stretch out in parks and on rooftops.

Over the past few years, Madrid has revamped many of its public spaces, making its favourite pastime, el paseo (aimlessly strolling), more pleasurable than ever. Now with wider pavements, more public benches, water fountains and thoroughfares that consider pedestrians, could the Spanish capital finally be giving Barcelona’s urbanism pioneers a run for their money? Upgrades along Calle de Alcalá and the Puerta del Sol, a revamp of the Usera district (known for Madrid’s Chinatown), a soon-to-be- finished green corridor that brings the Parque del Oeste closer to the city centre and a huge new park in Cuatro Caminos all make a persuasive case.

Other factors contribute to residents’ wellbeing. Madrid is the capital of Spain’s sporting prowess, from world-class football to tennis (though the Madrid Open, criticised for poor management, still needs to raise its game). It also boasts a growing network of padel courts, running tracks and open-air gyms. One thing’s for sure: madrileños know how to balance their leisurely lounging with some active lunging.

6.
Lisbon

The ever-evolving melting pot.
Position in 2023: 09

In April, lisboetas flooded the streets of their city to mark the 50th anniversary of the peaceful Carnation Revolution, which toppled a fascist dictatorship. Though they’re mild and welcoming by nature, resistance is also part of their DNA. Their current battle? The city is contending with the effects of its own charms.

Beautiful, safe and surrounded by nature, and with attractive tax incentives for expats, the Portuguese capital has become a haven for foreign investment, low-cost tourism and digital nomads in recent years. Lisbon is now prettier, cleaner and more vibrant than ever, benefitting from the energy and money of its new residents. A late-afternoon drink at one of its many small parks is a perfect way to sample this delightful melting pot.

On the other hand, house prices have soared and the city’s rising cost of living is incompatible with some of the lowest wages in western Europe. Lisbon’s dusty, picturesque charms have also been rapidly giving way to luxury hotels and tourist traps.

The city’s authorities announced measures last year to create more accessible housing but, so far, these have had no discernible effect. Meanwhile, a recent decision revoked restrictions on short-term rentals. Though highly walkable, there are major problems with traffic and public transport. In May city hall promised a big boost in the number of bike lanes and an expanded rental-sharing scheme, a welcome move for lisboetas pushed to the edges of the city.

7.
Tokyo

The best that Japan has to offer.
Position in 2023: 06

The Japanese capital is the nation’s economic engine, accounting for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP and half of its listed companies. But it is more than just a money-making machine: it’s also a magnet for the best food, retail and art that Japan has to offer. The challenges facing the country (and its neighbours), such as a greying population and a falling birth rate, are being tackled here. As part of a long-term strategy, the city is focusing on the “three Cs” – children, choju (“longevity”) and community – by supporting those who want to have children, encouraging senior citizens to play a more active role and investing in skills that will equip the population for the future.

Large-scale development continues at an unstoppable pace but amid all the newness, it’s good to see Tokyo acknowledging its remarkable craft heritage. Workshops producing knives or printing textiles mustn’t be allowed to sink under the weight of modern glass and steel. Tourism is now at record levels. That’s excellent news for the economy (the low yen has made Japanese food and shopping even more appealing to visitors). For residents, it’s both good and bad. There’s a mild exasperation that even the most obscure ramen shops and cafés now have long queues; apartment buildings have signs forbidding short-term rentals and taxis can be hard to come by. Still, Tokyo life continues to defy big-city trends: service is polite, the streets are safe and people take pride in their environment.

8.
Melbourne

The thriving all-rounder.
Position in 2023: 10

Melbourne hovers near the top of most global surveys of the best places to live: it has world-class amenities, good hospitals and schools, a buoyant economy and a vibrant creative scene. But there’s discontent about housing and mobility. The rental market is squeezed and many are struggling to find a place to live in the neighbourhood of their choice. Areas beyond the middle-ring suburbs are poorly served by public transport, which limits residents’ access to many of Melbourne’s much-vaunted attributes.

The city’s attractions are concentrated in its centre so it’s unsurprising that most want to live within easy reach of them. Earlier this year a tight state budget forced local authorities to postpone plans to build a rail link to the international airport, along with other big infrastructure schemes. The rail link is something that Melburnians dearly want but disagreements over the details have held the project back.

Improvements to infrastructure have continued at pace, in particular when it comes to upgrades to local rail. Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, whose economy grew by 2.5 per cent last year, outpacing all other Australian states. Crime rates are falling, indicating that the rise in income is being felt somewhat equitably.

One thing that Melbourne does well is put its best face forward. Signs of its creative community are visible everywhere. It has excellent healthcare and education options, sprawling parks and top surf beaches a couple of hours’ drive down the coast.

9.
Stockholm

A city of hope and ambition.
Position in 2023: 05

Following its lengthy renovation, Stockholmers can at last enjoy Vattentorget, a section of the city’s water-lock area connecting the old town with Södermalm in the south. But it’s not all good news: in the past few months, the housing market has wobbled and levels of gang-related crime have gone up.

Luckily, change could be afoot. House prices are ticking steadily back upwards and those hoping to sell are setting their sights on further recovery over the next few months. As for crime, the police now have a remit that incorporates national co-operation, which many see as a promising strategy. Meanwhile, the city, which is run by a green-red coalition, will enact the world’s first fossil-fuel-free zone later this year, making it a pioneer of implementing robust, on-the-ground climate policies.

Stockholm is a growing city. In 2025 its population is expected to surpass the one million mark. Though housing stock is tight, plans for an entirely new neighbourhood are in the works. At some point in the coming decade, a development will be completed near Bromma Stockholm Airport, a 20-minute drive northwest from the city centre. The project is expected to deliver 22,500 homes and many new jobs.

Optimism is high in Stockholm. Smart new restaurants and shops are springing up to capitalise on the good vibes and returning spending power. The future is looking bright for this northern star.

10.
Paris

The shining cultural juggernaut.
Position in 2023: 12

It’s a big year for Paris. A perennial cultural high-flyer, the City of Light will be showcasing its bold vision of sustainability and social inclusion as the Olympic crowds descend. Its long-neglected northern suburbs have undergone a major face-lift, luring global powerhouses such as Tesla, while ambitious public-housing policies have helped to ensure a baseline of mixité sociale.

The French capital’s creaking transport network is also undergoing a significant overhaul. The Métro’s expansion is Europe’s largest public infrastructure project; once fully operational, the Grand Paris Express will put the city at the global forefront of urban public transport. The backbone of the new network is the speedy Line 14, which from June takes commuters all the way from Paris-Orly Airport to the new Saint-Denis-Pleyel station in 40 minutes.

The Games, however, have exacerbated the city’s rental crisis. Estate agents are overwhelmed with demand as availability continues to plummet and prices soar. Paris remains one of the most expensive European cities to live in across all property types. Security also remains an issue, with France’s terror-alert warning at its highest level following a spate of incidents across the country in recent months. As much as people in big cities bemoan them, the city’s traditional charms have lost little of their storied allure and are increasingly complemented by a welcome new dynamism.

11.
Helsinki

The leafy egalitarian capital.
Position in 2023: 07

Helsinki’s enviable lifestyle is the result of several factors. It is among the world’s greenest, cleanest capitals, with a city hall that listens to residents and constantly seeks to improve. It is also safe and egalitarian, and has great schools and other public services.

It has been a mixed year, however, for the Finnish capital. In many ways, life in the city has improved, with the opening of major new transport infrastructure, pedestrian zones and several top-quality restaurants. On the other hand, retail flight has continued and the high street has lacked the oomph that it once had. Quality of life here has also been weighed down by too many roadworks.

This year, the boom and bust in the food and drink scene that followed the height of the coronavirus pandemic has meant that many much-loved establishments have had to close down. However, bars and restaurants have been opening in vibrant neighbourhoods such as Punavuori and Kallio. A new 25km circular light-rail link connecting Helsinki’s suburbs was well received, as was a central cycling tunnel that makes trips downtown less stressful. Turning roads into terraces and cycle paths in the Esplanadi park was a brave move.

But Helsinki needs better retail and a more vibrant downtown. Much of the development, such as new residential areas and shopping centres, takes place in the suburbs, which, combined with high rents, drives people and businesses away from the inner city.

12.
Kyoto

Japan’s treasured ancient capital.
Position in 2023: 16

It’s hard to discuss Kyoto without mentioning overtourism. Tens of millions visit every year, overwhelming the resident population of fewer than 1.5 million. While the influx is good for the economy, it presents its own challenges. The city’s new mayor, Koji Matsui, has pledged to tackle these problems, which include overcrowding on public transport, rubbish on the streets and sprawling queues at some of the city’s temples and shrines.

His solutions include new express buses dedicated to tourist sites and smart bins that alert the sanitation department when they need to be emptied. Some private roads in picturesque Gion have been closed to visitors and Matsui is also considering banning non-resident private cars at certain times of the year.

With much of the available land being snapped up by hotels, the city needs to guard against the hollowing-out of the centre. The resident population is shrinking and high rents are driving Kyoto’s younger generations to the suburbs – the very people needed to keep alive the artisanal skills that the city is celebrated for.

The relocation of the Cultural Affairs Agency from Tokyo to Kyoto signalled the city’s importance. By 2030, there will be new facilities for the restoration of Japan’s historic cultural properties. People want to live in this city for good reason: the depth of its culture, its access to nature and food that is admired within Japan and beyond. It’s a way of life that’s worth preserving.

13.
Oslo

The compact Nordic powerhouse.
Position in 2023: 19

Norway’s capital keeps becoming more liveable. Its new centre-right city council is expected to follow through on the green promises made by its centre-left predecessor, with a big bump in climate funding in its latest budget. Cars are making way for street furniture, outdoor cafés and cyclists. In the past 10 years, some 5,000 parking spaces have been replaced by 153km of bike lanes. There is now also a plan to reduce pollution from cruise ships in Oslo’s inner-city harbour, which will be offered land-based electricity, allowing them to shut down their engines while docked.

Independent bars and restaurants keep popping up and the choice of sensibly priced, high-quality meals is growing. But if you want to splash out, you can choose from 11 Michelin-starred restaurants.

Housing remains a challenge. Sandwiched between the fjord and forests, the city has little room to expand, though many developers have come up with innovative solutions, making use of the smallest footprints between existing buildings.

Oslo has a thriving start-up scene, as well as long-established multinationals. A 19-minute train ride from the city centre, the well-connected Oslo Airport is a delight to travel through, with more than 120 direct flights to the rest of the world. The city still falls behind its Scandinavian competitors in terms of attracting talent, however. What Oslo needs to do now is figure out better ways to communicate its undeniable appeal.

14.
Amsterdam

The sustainable technology hub.
Position in 2023: 13

Amsterdam is investing heavily in sustainable urban development. It has turned a former naval base, Marineterrein, into a hub for swimming, dining and leisure. Meanwhile, many residents begin their day with a dip in the increasingly clean canals.

The city is becoming a tech hub, playing a leading role in the global fintech sector as home to companies such as Adyen and Mollie. Higher-education establishments are investing more than €1bn to establish Amsterdam as an AI centre. Public-health initiatives, such as the deployment of HIV-prevention drug Prep, are paving the way for Amsterdam to become the world’s first city to end new infections of the virus. As a centuries-old trading city, Amsterdam has long attracted immigrants. English is gradually becoming a second official tongue, with government institutions offering services in the language.

However, the city’s popularity is straining its housing market. Amsterdam’s population will surpass a million this decade, with that of the greater metropolitan area reaching three million. The average sale price of a home hit a record €603,173 earlier this year. Transportation challenges persist too, with a rise in cycling accidents prompting major infrastructure investments, including the world’s largest underwater bike-parking facilities. The Green mayor, Femke Halsema, secured another six-year term in February but she will face budgetary pressures from the new populist national government.

15.
Sydney

A harbour city on track for success.
Position in 2023: 14

Popular lord mayor Clover Moore continues to reign over the harbour city, which has had a reprieve over the past 12 months from the bushfires and heavy rain that have caused so much havoc in recent years. In a happy development, Sydney’s inadequate public transport system is at last being addressed with some 113km of new metro railway lines and 16 additional stations. The city’s largest transport infrastructure project, it will link the northwestern suburbs with the city centre and provide access to the second Sydney airport that is currently under construction in the western suburb of Badgerys Creek.

The soundtrack to the past year has been that of roadworks. Though this signals improvement, it has strained the nerves of many a Sydneysider. The Sydney Harbour upgrade, due for completion in 2028, has resulted in heavy traffic clogging the edges of the city, including the Harbour Bridge.

High housing costs have also been exacerbated by a shortage of rental properties. Median rent per unit is AU$700 (€425) a week, up 13.6 per cent, while a one-bedroom apartment in the inner city will set you back AU$800 (€491) a week. The retail and hospitality landscapes are still struggling in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and as a result of inflation. There are “For Lease” signs in the windows of many high-street businesses and popular restaurants.

16.
Barcelona

The vibrant Mediterranean gem.
NEW ENTRY

The Catalan capital struggled after it lifted its coronavirus restrictions as a return of tourists en masse generated some unwelcome headlines and led to disgruntled barceloní. But as with other issues that the city has faced, such as petty crime and falling retail-occupancy rates, Barcelona is getting a handle on things through a combination of progressive policies and ingenuity.

Since the beginning of April, for example, visitors have had to pay an increased surcharge of €3.25 on top of the regional tourism tax. This means that those staying in luxury establishments contribute an extra €6.75 a night to the city; day-trippers arriving on cruise ships, meanwhile, have to pay €6.25 a night. While this probably won’t dissuade people from making the trip, it’s a useful revenue earner for city hall to direct towards some of the areas under strain.

Elsewhere, the city’s reservoirs received a welcome fillip from unseasonably wet spring weather, easing water pressures that had become a concern and led to regional restrictions. Ensuring that Barcelona maintains its unique qualities while its population swells with short-term visitors might be a difficult balancing act but the authorities are rising to the challenge. For those looking to plan any kind of event on the Med, from large-scale music festivals to boutique food fairs, Barcelona remains a go-to destination because it is easy to get to and fun to be in. All in all, this city remains a vibrant, diverse and extremely attractive place.

17.
Berlin

The laid-back cultural mecca.
Position in 2023: 11

Berlin is one of Europe’s greenest capitals but it hasn’t always felt that way. Not long ago, visitors could tell whether they were in the former West or East by seeing if the parks sported a cover of healthy grass. The city has invested in fixing up neglected former-gdr areas with stunning results. Mauerpark has transformed from little more than a dusty field into a verdant pocket of Prenzlauer Berg. East along the river, the Spreepark, once home to a huge beer garden, draws crowds with a fine new restaurant and its abandoned gdr-era amusement park is being converted into an open-air arts space.

It’s easygoing in Berlin. Rents are lower than in many other European capitals and the restaurant scene rivals that of any global city. Berliners no longer have to trek to a lake for a swim; they can jump into the Badeschiff pool in the river Spree or the soon-to-open Flussbad. Hundreds of kilometres of bike lanes keep the city almost free of rush-hour traffic even as it swells with white-collar workers.

This famously gloomy city is sunnier than ever but there are still some dark clouds. Berlin’s cultural sector has been in knots since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last year. In April, a peaceful pro-Palestinian conference was shut down by the police and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who had been slated to speak at the event, was banned from entering Germany. As a place that prides itself on tolerance, Berlin should know better.

18.
Singapore

The global city par excellence.
Position in 2023: 15

Singapore continues to charge ahead with its urban-redevelopment and sustainability projects, securing its place as one of Asia’s most liveable and forward-looking cities. Construction on government-led initiatives such as the Park Connector Network, a web of pedestrian paths that will eventually criss-cross the whole island, is part of a plan that aims to have every household living within 10 minutes’ walk of a park by 2030. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial initiatives – including New Bahru, a creative and retail cluster in a former girls’ school, and Air CCCC, a restaurant, cooking school and picnic spot in Dempsey – are exciting additions to the bricks-and-mortar shopping and dining scenes.

Singapore Changi Airport slipped in the global rankings this year, losing the “World’s Best Airport” title to Doha. Second place might not seem so bad but Singapore holds itself to high standards. A switch to passport-free security clearance, expected to begin this year, should help to boost its chances next time. Improvements are also in the works for the Malaysia-Singapore land border. With hundreds of thousands of people making the trip every day, often facing long queues and traffic jams, streamlining this journey will be a significant boon for many residents and expats.

Singapore welcomed a new prime minister, Lawrence Wong, in May. Wong is expected to continue in the same vein as his predecessors and he’ll be hoping to prove his mettle in the months ahead.

19.
Milan

The design and business hot spot.
Position in 2023: 18

Milan continues to demonstrate why it’s Italy’s most liveable city. It remains the most bankable in the bel paese in terms of job security and investment. It’s also a leader in everything from the arts to gastronomy; nowhere else on the peninsula offers such diversity. Recent openings include the excellent Dimorestudio-designed Trattoria del Ciumbia, while the new home-gallery-residency Villa Clea in Porta Romana adds a welcome new dimension to the cultural mix.

Alongside the much-touted M4 line linking Milano Linate airport with the west of the city – expected to open fully by September, a little later than originally projected – city hall has been tinkering with a number of smaller interventions that have been improving residents’ quality of life. Bike lanes are being added and piazzas are being redesigned, often with extra pedestrian areas, such as in Piazza Castello. Piazza Duomo has also had a green makeover with its incongruous palm trees replaced by indigenous plants as part of Ermenegildo Zegna’s three-year stewardship of the city’s central square.

Pesky little outliers do remain, most notably an uptick in crime and poor air quality, which dipped to levels as bad as those in New Delhi in February. And while mayor Beppe Sala, in his last term, needs to do more by clamping down on outdated building heating systems, you would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to deny that Milan has got plenty of its pre-pandemic zip back.

20.
Athens

Greece’s comeback capital.
Position in 2023: 17

Last year, Athens established a new tourism record of seven million visitors – a figure that has more than doubled since 2014. It’s more than just ancient ruins drawing them in. The creative scene is livelier than ever, with artists from across the globe moving to the city to make the most of relatively low rents and an abundance of vacant spaces that can be repurposed as galleries or studios. Its culinary reputation is blossoming, with new openings including stylish modern-Greek spot Pharoah and restaurant-cum-bakery Akra.

Despite its cultural resurgence, Athens, like many cities, grapples with urban issues. Pollution is a challenge and disrepair makes pavements treacherous. Public transport also needs attention, though a 15-station metro line, slated to open in 2029, offers hope.

Greece’s recovery from the financial crisis is noteworthy but inflation has placed pressure on households. Rent in Athens has surged by 40 per cent in four years. The threat posed by climate change also feels realer than ever, with Athens experiencing its hottest summer in half a century last year. The election of a new mayor, Haris Doukas, a former professor of energy policy, seems promising in this regard.

All told, the city has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, establishing itself as one of Europe’s most attractive capitals. The new shorefront Ellinikon development – touted as the continent’s greatest urban regeneration project – is emblematic of a city and country looking firmly ahead.

Wellness is a vague concept. The secret to longevity is more simple than you think

Wellness is an irritating word, isn’t it? It’s everywhere – on shop signs, tote bags and infrared blankets – but what does it actually mean? At May’s Longevity Med Summit in Lisbon (slogan: “Committed to global wellness”), pharmacological enthusiasts and celebrity dentists were giving talks with titles such as, “Proteomic profiling platform for the molecular assessment of lifestyle and age-related implications”. Whenever I asked someone to define the W-word, their slick shtick disintegrated into a jumble of “umms” and “ahhs”. This is wellness’s power: it is indefinable.

Longevity, on the other hand, isn’t such an irritating word – yet. May’s summit, hosted at the gleaming Carlos Lopes Pavilion in the Portuguese capital’s sky-scraping Parque Eduardo VII, is part of a fledgling movement to increase its ubiquity. The speakers’ list featured a constellation of MDs and PhDs, many of whom have dedicated their careers to researching areas of medicine now talked up as the key to prolonging human life. Those doing the talking up aren’t usually as qualified as those who are doing the research. They are people such as Dave Asprey, the blue-light-blocking eyeglass-wearing inventor of bulletproof coffee and host of the podcast Human Upgrade, who is 51 but “identifies” as 39. Or Peter Attia, co-author of the best-selling Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity, who regularly takes rapamycin, a drug normally prescribed to people who have undergone organ transplants.

Both men, and many others on the longevity scene, enthusiastically perform the role of human guinea pigs – trying out things like blood washing and veganism – in a frenzied attempt to extend their lives. The Lisbon summit reflects a wider attempt to wrest scientific authority from these people while harnessing the commercial potential their popularity reveals. It is mostly a b2b event – the lecture hall is ringed with pop-up stands promoting vitamin supplements, Bavarian clinics and space-age technologies. The most eye-catching of these is RLab, a Shanghai-based manufacturer of medical devices intended to aid longevity such as hyperbaric oxygen and sensory-deprivation chambers. Throughout the two days of the event, a steady stream of people were busy queuing up to give these machines a try.

Unlike the other stands, which usually have at least one semi-medical professional on hand to explain the science behind their product, RLab’s seems to be staffed entirely by marketing and sales representatives. At one point the aroma of Burger King wafts across from the direction of a couple of crumpled RLab employees. It is, of course, a sign of the longevity movement’s growing saleability that the great factories of the Yangtze Delta are now hastily producing its mechanical appurtenances.

Some of the scientific research and treatments on show are staggering but let’s leave proteomic profiling for a moment. Instead, I will focus on the most frequently cited contributors to a long and healthy life preached by the speakers and salespeople at the Longevity Med Summit. It may surprise you, given the vast oceans of drugs and data devoted to understanding the key to a longer life, that none of these is either expensive or arcane. After all the PowerPoints and pie charts, I gleaned that the most scientifically proven things one needs to live longer are good sleep, regular exercise, a balanced diet and a vibrant social life. A Harvard University study, conducted across 85 years and published in April 2023, concluded that strong personal relationships are most likely to cause happiness and contentment, and therefore aid longevity. So the next time your hand hovers above an infrared blanket, pick up your phone and arrange to meet your friends for a drink instead.

Things are looking up for Cuba’s singing street vendors

By mid-morning in Havana’s leafy Vedado neighbourhood, the jostling melodies of the city’s dawn chorus are joined by another group of urban choristers: the voices of the pregoneros. These familiar calls, emanating from Havana’s roaming mobile retailers, are as old as the city itself. Their patter advertises the sale of everything from brushes, buckets and brooms to tamales, television antennae and everything else in between.

And, like actors who have perfected delivering their lines to the farthest reaches of an auditorium, they know that, in a city of balconies, there are potential customers up in the gods.

My ears prick up late one morning when a call that I’ve been waiting for soars up to my fourth-floor apartment. It’s advertising fresh-fruit and coconut pies; a local pre-lunch treat. Quickly, I grab a Havana-household essential, a basket tied to a sturdy, plaited string, and try to catch the pie-seller’s attention from my balcony. He scans the sky, sees me and repositions his mobile shop, which has the words “Your Favourite Pie” emblazoned in Spanish on its roof.

With money in the basket, I lower it down to street level. “How many pies would you like?” the pie-seller says, as the basket descends. “One, thank you; coconut, please.” I tell him. “Only one?” he says, ever the salesman, adding that sometimes he polishes off three family-sized pies in one sitting. I resist and he removes the cash from the basket, sliding a golden, pastry-topped coconut pie into a bag and attaching it to the basket. One pie, it turns out, was not enough.

This street-to-balcony mode of commerce is a long-standing fixture of Havana’s informal retail economy. Historically, the pregoneros only provided daily necessities but some newer Cuban delivery businesses are getting in on the action. In a national economy where the full ownership of private businesses by Cuban entrepreneurs was only legalised by its communist government in 2021, this development is changing the urban fabric of the city as well as the daily routines of its residents.

“It’s a new version of an old idea,” says Marta Deus, who developed Mandao, Cuba’s first mobile food-delivery app, in 2019. Its couriers, most of whom carry-out their deliveries by bicycle, are now a familiar sight across the city. Mandao was conceived by Deus as a way of consolidating a method of retail that has existed in Havana for centuries. “The innovation is that now you can get so many things delivered to you quickly at home,” says Deus, noting that the pregonero’s format of delivery has not been encroached upon but simply expanded and complemented. “Havana also has an older population,” she adds. “And most of the residential buildings don’t have elevators, so it’s a much easier way for people to get what they need.”

Havana’s balconies also reflect the city’s long history. Told through architectural chapters, the grand verandas mark Spain’s presence in Cuba during the 19th century; the contours of the art deco apartment buildings were built in the 1920s as part of former president Gerardo Machado’s push to modernise; the box balconies that rose after that echoed Soviet architecture. “In colder countries, life unfolds inside the house,” says Deus. But Cuba’s balmy climate looks set to sustain balcony living, and Havana’s time-honoured trading technique, long into the future.

One big family: How one Italian hotel makes guests feel at home

Stretching along three hectares of shoreline on the Lombardy side of Lake Garda, it’s of little surprise that Villa Feltrinelli is a hotel that does just fine when it comes to staff retention. Alongside the magnificent 19th-century sand-and-orange turreted villa — all wood panelling, frescoes and Murano glasswork inside — a walk through the grounds takes in two moored hotel boats, a swimming pool, olive and lemon trees, and plenty of private nooks. “Most of my staff have been with the hotel for 15 years or so,” says the hotel’s Swiss general manager, Markus Odermatt, who is dressed in a beige seersucker jacket. The fact that Odermatt takes a dip in the lake every morning at 07.00, even in winter, from his home further down the lake might have contributed to the fact he’s been with Villa Feltrinelli for more than 20 years.

The hotel might be grand and discreet but Odermatt says that it “feels like someone’s house” rather than your traditional grand hotel. For much of its life, until the late 1990s, the villa was the private pile of the aristocratic Feltrinelli family, who proved to be colourful characters to say the least. Family patriarch Carlo was a successful businessman, while his son Giangiacomo founded the Feltrinelli bookshop chain found throughout Italy (Giangiacomo also became involved in armed left-wing activism, dying in murky circumstances in the 1970s).

Since 2001, Villa Feltrinelli has been welcoming guests in its 20 magnificent suites. Alongside original furniture, everything else is bespoke and handmade in the Bel Paese for the hotel, something that Odermatt calls “a work of art”. Part of the way in which Villa Feltrinelli provides great service is through the sheer number of staff on hand: a team of 90 are charged with going above and beyond for a maximum of 40 guests. “Everyone has the hotel motto emblazoned on their chest,” says Odermatt. “It makes people feel important.” The key, he adds, it’s not just about how staff treat the hotel’s guests but also how they treat each other. “Everything we do is the opposite of what a normal hotel does.” — L

Markus Odermatt
General manager, (front and centre)

Born in Switzerland, Odermatt has been general manager of Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano, Lake Garda since it opened in 2001. He started his career in his homeland, working for several years in the F&B scene. He moved into hotels in Mexico, where he moved next, working for Casa de Sierra Nevada and the Small Luxury Hotels of Mexico Group. In the West Indies, he played a key role in establishing the exclusive Grace Bay Club in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

1
Max Ferrara
Maintenance manager
“Ensures flawless facility operations”

2
Romina-Maria Florut
Cleaner
“Prepares and presents the laundry of clients perfectly”

3
Piera Donola
Head housekeeper
“Ensures impeccable cleanliness and comfort”

4
Daniele Vezzola
Boat skipper
“Guides Riva cruises on Lake Garda”

5
Matteo Lonati
Head gardener
“Supervises the hotel’s grounds and 30,000 flowers”

6
Tiziano Ghitti
Head maître’d and sommelier
“Curates exquisite dining and wine experiences”

7
Rose-Myrtha Regis
Receptionist
“Always greets guests with a smile”

8
Alessandro Bosco
Restaurant manager
“Delivers exceptional dining experiences”

9
Giuliana Nieddu
Reservation manager
“Plans and ensures the perfect stay for every guest at the villa”

10
Liga Sierina
Waitress
“Elevates service in our two-Michelin-starred dining room”

11
Michele Della Torre
Sous chef
“Second-in-command in the kitchen and oversees exceptional food-quality control”

12
Stefano Baiocco
Executive chef
“Crafts culinary masterpieces, helping earn our two stars”

13
Alessia Micheletti
Assistant to general manager
“Supports executive efficiency and operations”

14
Alessia Vannelli
Waitress
“Her style is efficient and impeccable”

15
Noureddine Hragua
Houseman
“Welcomes and assists guests on arrival warmly and efficiently”

16
Holainy Costanza Duarte
Waitress
“On duty early every morning to serve guests breakfast with aplomb”

17
Elisa Cerutti
Spa therapist
“Provides rejuvenating and therapeutic treatments”

18
Raul Morelli
Masseur
“Ensures relaxation and wellness”

19
Sigrid Jehle
Resident manager
“Overseas daily operations and guest satisfaction”

20
Evi-Sabrina Savu
Waitress
“Her gentle manners charm guests”

21
Andrea Carobene
Poolboy
“Maintains a pristine poolside experience”

Spend the night: How Tallinn kept the party going through economic crisis

Natalie Mets knew that it was only a matter of time before she became a politician. But in the end it happened “accidentally”, she says. For more than a decade, she worked in culture and music management in and around Tallinn. Mets had spoken for years about how the Estonian capital needed its own night mayor; the local government, she believed, was indifferent to the city’s nightlife and didn’t appreciate its economic and cultural benefits. Then one evening, during Tallinn Music Week, a festival-cum-industry-fair, she ended up at a party with the country’s former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves. They were still talking when the hosts had gone to bed. “He was really eagerly saying that I had to join the Social Democratic Party,” says Mets. So she did. And when the party entered Tallinn’s local government coalition in 2021, she was appointed to her dream job.

Tallinn is relatively small, with a population of less than 500,000, but it punches above its weight when it comes to nightlife. Hall, its flagship techno club, hosts not only local DJs but the best from around the world, including many who usually play at Berlin behemoths Berghain and Tresor. The likes of German DJ Marcel Dettmann and Detroit collective Underground Resistance are attracted to Hall, founder Elena Natale explains, because it’s one of the few places left in the world with an authentically “diy” ethos. Tallinn’s size has encouraged the formation of a friendly, tight-knit scene. “Whenever you go into a nightlife place, it’s only a matter of minutes before you meet the owner,” Mets tells Monocle. “It all just feels like an afterparty at someone’s apartment.” (An afterparty where you might meet a former president.) “It feels like a city where you can know your neighbours,” says Jirí Mališ, a Czech transplant who moved to Tallinn in 2020 and is now assistant manager at speakeasy-style bar Whisper Sister.

The city’s nightlife – more intimate than in western European club hotspots such as Berlin and Amsterdam, and still cheaper – is attractive to foreigners too, whether they’re long-term expats or simply tourists in town for a long weekend of dancing. Tallinn is well served by its airport, which flies direct to more than 50 destinations. And currently under construction is Rail Baltica, a high-speed rail line linking the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with Poland. Due to partially open in 2028, it will invigorate travel to and from the Baltics – and allow potential clubbers from abroad to get home without having to lug their sore heads and aching limbs through airport security.

Mets’ appointment came as Tallinn faced a challenge: how to keep world-class nightlife going through tough economic times. Between 2011 and 2021, Tallinn’s population grew by 11.3 per cent. The city led Estonia’s tech-fuelled economic miracle – the country is now home to more billion-dollar technology “unicorns” per capita than any other European nation. The branding of one of them, the ride-sharing firm Bolt, adorns the sides of many of the cars roaming the capital. This all helped Estonian real incomes to grow by 44.8 per cent, the third-highest level in the oecd, from 2007 to 2021. Tallinn became a destination for young go-getters from the rest of Estonia and beyond – in 2020 the country even introduced a digital nomad visa, allowing anyone in the world who earns more than a certain amount a month (currently €4,500) to live and work remotely there for up to a year. All those go-getters wanted places to party. Nightlife figures talk of a golden era beginning around 2015. Roman Demtšenko, a veteran live-music promoter, says that those years heralded “a revolution in the cultural scene”. Natale, who set up Hall in 2017, says that the city’s start-up mentality “was very good for us”.

But the years since the pandemic have been trickier. Estonia’s geographical position and its dependence on food and fuel imports mean that it was badly affected by the economic shockwaves from Russian’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Inflation hit 19.5 per cent in 2022, while the recession that started the same year isn’t forecast to end until 2025. Many nightlife venues haven’t survived this rocky period. Sveta, a much-loved club co-owned by Demtšenko, shut at the end of last year, in part due to financial pressures. It has been “one crisis after the other”, says Natale. The city is hardly unique in this regard: night-time economies around the world have been badly hit by the pandemic and more recent cost-of-living pressures.

Nearly three years since her appointment, Mets’ work on precisely this issue has attracted the attention of Urbact, an EU-funded urbanism institution, which included Tallinn in a recent survey of the bloc’s nighttime economies. The city is “a great laboratory for innovation”, says Simone d’Antonio, the study’s author. “It is doing a lot of things that can set an example, not only for the other Baltic capitals but also for other medium-sized cities in Europe.” Mets spent her first six months in office “explaining [within] the city government itself why [her] position is needed” – in 2022, for example, Tallinn’s nightlife-related sectors employed 14,792 people and generated a taxable turnover of €738m. One early priority was a fund offering grants of up to €30,000 a year to live-music venues. Tallinn also used to be the only EU capital without any public transport running through the night but, after a successful 2023 pilot scheme, it now has a network of weekend night buses. In the spring sunshine, the Estonian capital is picturesque, even sleepy. Modern buildings are broken up by streets of traditional wooden houses that give some neighbourhoods a rural feel. Tourists sit in the cobbled streets of the medieval Old Town nursing tall, gleaming glasses of lager. But the city stirs to life when the sun goes down, especially in its northern quarter. Telliskivi Creative City, just northeast of the Old Town, has led the way: since 2007 a cluster of nightlife and cultural destinations has been built up in a complex of former industrial buildings.

At Fono, a cosy bar in the area, Monocle meets Mark and Villiam, two 27-year-old native Tallinners. Mark, a software engineer at payments company Wise, says that the spot “is as fresh as you can get”: in May, Fono opened a dance floor, Fonoteek, in the adjoining space. Further north is Paavli Kultuurivabrik (“culture factory”), a venue set up in June 2023 by Demtšenko. It has already been admitted to Liveurope, an EU-backed association of 24 of the continent’s best concert venues. For Demtšenko, economic issues were an opportunity as well as a challenge: Paavli Kultuurivabrik occupies a former fish cannery, which he snapped up on a 10-year contract after the previous tenant, a firm that exported to Ukraine and Russia, went bankrupt after the 2022 invasion. Since then the site has hosted everything from Swedish punk to poetry readings.

When Monocle visits Paavli Kultuurivabrik’s outdoor space – a riot of flowering trees and red-and-yellow tulips – Demtšenko gestures over the fence at the building projects that surround the venue on almost every side. Northern Tallinn is following the classic development arc: first the cultural venues move in, attracted by cheap rents, then come residential blocks. Hall occupies a hulking industrial building that used to serve as a clubhouse for dock workers next to Port Noblessner on the Gulf of Tallinn, where the city meets the Baltic Sea. Since the club opened, the port has filled up with smart modern apartments.

Mets is currently working on measures to stop venues being shut down when residents of newly built apartments complain about noise. Not that the relationship between development and cutting-edge culture is always negative. Ivo Arro, an architect in the city government’s spatial planning and design department, points out that the developers near Hall used the area’s cultural amenities as a selling point. “Estonian people, their taste has evolved,” he says. “They’ve travelled more, seen the world more – new generations, they have different ideas of what they want in the city.”

Tallinn’s nightlife also has a unique political dimension. Owing to the country formerly being part of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union, about a third of the city’s population is ethnically Russian. If you clamber into a Bolt, there’s a good chance that the driver will have their app set up in Cyrillic. These Russian-speakers tend to live parallel lives to the Estonian majority; most don’t even speak Estonian. But club culture can transcend the language barrier. Mets recently wrote a master’s thesis on the topic; her research found that nightlife “is perhaps one of the best ways to integrate Russian- and Estonian-speaking youth”. Demtšenko knows this first-hand: he is ethnically Russian and became fluent in Estonian only when he started getting involved in Tallinn’s music scene. The government throws “shitloads of money” at integration, he says, but nothing is as effective as people hanging out and bonding over music.

Giving temporary visitors a similarly warm welcome is one way Tallinn’s nightlife scene plans to ride out the current economic winter. Mets wants the city to become a destination for “high-quality tourists” who’ll party at the weekend but also go to museums and restaurants. Hall is diversifying its programme beyond weekend club nights by hosting concerts by the likes of the Estonian Symphony Orchestra and opening a restaurant to the public. “The way you survive is to offer a space for everything,” says Micaela Saraceno, Natale’s daughter, who DJs at the club.

On the Friday night when Monocle is in town, Hall’s main room is filled with thumping techno and strobe lights. The following afternoon is a touch more relaxed: the team are setting up tables for a staff dinner on the leafy terrace, which doubles as the smoking area. Someone’s dog and someone’s toddler gambol about as trays of freshly baked focaccia are produced. It might not be typical Baltic fare but Natale is half-Italian, so good food is non-negotiable. Among those helping are Micaela and her sister, Alessia, a duty manager at Hall. The club is a family business. “It’s all very logical and natural.” Natale, who presides over Hall’s literal and metaphorical family as an affable matriarch, has even started to see the children of regulars coming to nights. “It’s a village here,” she says. “A dancing village.”