The Urbanist | Monocle

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The Urbanist

With an influential audience of city mayors, urban planners and architects, this is Monocle’s guide to making better cities, be it new technology, state-of-the-art subways or compact apartments. Nominee in the Smartest Podcast category of the 2019 British Podcast awards.

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Latest episode

A very Urbanist Christmas:

Our holiday special brings you a collection of yuletide traditions from cities around the world. Then, we roll out another festive round of ‘The Urbanist’ quiz and give you the perfect gift idea for the urbanist in your life.

Latest episodes

EpisodeDateDescriptionDownloadPlay
68819 Dec 2024
27 min

A very Urbanist Christmas 

Our holiday special brings you a collection of yuletide traditions from cities around the world. Then, we roll out another festive round of ‘The Urbanist’ quiz and give you the perfect gift idea for the urbanist in your life.

DownloadPlay
16 Dec 2024
8 min

Tall Stories 439: Deer Valley Resort, Utah 

Jessica Bridger straps on her skis and takes us to a grand American resort whose wild, man-made landscape stuns visitors.

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68712 Dec 2024
29 min

Swimmable cities, Battersea Power Station and indigenous retail 

Matt Sykes, co-founder and convenor of Swimmable Cities, describes how our urban centres can band together to promote more swimmable urban waterways. Then Sebastien Ricard from Wilkinsoneyre unpacks the transformation of the Battersea Power Station and Mandy Sinclair visits Aaniin – Canada’s first fully indigenous-owned department store.

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9 Dec 2024
5 min

Tall Stories 438: Cusco’s duality 

Elna Schutz explores how antiquity and modernity coexist in the city of Cusco, perched high in the Andes.

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6865 Dec 2024
28 min

How municipal architects shape our cities 

From the perspectives of towns, cities and countries, we look at the role of the municipal architect today to see how this centralised advisor can help to cut red tape, mould an identity and connect stakeholders for better urban-design choices.

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2 Dec 2024
6 min

Tall Stories 437: Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, New York 

Paul Logothetis takes us to an intriguing new building that is just as awe inspiring as the exhibits housed within.

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68528 Nov 2024
29 min

‘The Land is Full’, plus urbanism for young and old 

We speak to Thomas Woltz of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, whose new monograph, ‘The Land is Full’, explains why all land comes with deep history and cultural ties. Then we inspire young urbanists with the author of an architecturally themed colouring book and assess how Singapore will combat loneliness in its rapidly ageing population.

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25 Nov 2024
9 min

Tall Stories 436: Tallinna Linnahall 

David Plaisant visits a Soviet-era concert hall that has been disused for the best part of 15 years and is loved and loathed by the city’s residents in equal measure.

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68421 Nov 2024
29 min

The positives of public parks, Kitchener’s glockenspiel and the art of letter carving 

We assess all the benefits that public green space brings to a city, visit one of the most German cities in Canada to see how the town glockenspiel brings residents together and investigate the ancient art of letter carving.

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18 Nov 2024
4 min

Tall Stories 435: Streetcars in El Paso 

Gregory Scruggs hops aboard a street car in El Paso to find out how the revival of this transportation option has struck a chord with the locals.

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68314 Nov 2024
30 min

Protecting London’s past 

We explore some iconic parts of London’s past through ‘London Lost Interiors’, a book revealing the great indoors of the UK capital. Plus: a cylindrical example of brutalist architecture, Space House, which has been preserved for future generations.

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11 Nov 2024
7 min

Tall Stories 434: Millionaire’s Row, George Town 

Tomás Pinheiro discusses the history of a prestigious street in the capital of Malaysia’s Penang state and assesses some of the new developments taking over the area. 

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6827 Nov 2024
31 min

Utopian Hours 2024 

Monocle’s Ed Stocker reports from Turin’s annual festival of urbanism, Utopian Hours, where a collection of inspiring speakers discussed everything from meanwhile spaces to climate resilience. Plus: we visit the river Po to see how it interacts with the Piedmontese capital.

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4 Nov 2024
6 min

Tall Stories 433: Holcim Foundation Awards series: Sou Fujimoto 

Each week we welcome one of the jury chairs of the Holcim Foundation Awards – the world’s premier competition for sustainable design – to hear their views on creating uplifting places, fostering a healthy planet and building thriving communities. In the fifth and final episode we sit down with the Japanese architect and founder of his eponymous studio, Sou Fujimoto.

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68131 Oct 2024
30 min

US elections special 

We are using the upcoming US election to put a spotlight on American cities and the challenges they face. We discuss housing struggles, how to get around, the changing world of work, the resulting state of downtown cores and how apps are altering our urban fabric.

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