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The Urbanist
Monocle’s guide to better cities. Explore urban innovation, cutting-edge infrastructure, and compact living with insights from planners, architects, and city leaders.
Latest Episodes
Tall Stories 471: Aalto Siilo – the ugliest building in Oulu
Wif Stenger describes how the so-called “ugliest building in Oulu” can be redesigned to serve as a community treasure.
Earning the commute – how do we get city centres humming again?
We chair a roundtable conversation on the future of the office and how good design can bring people back to our city centres.
Tall Stories 470: Szimpla Kert, Budapest
Geetanjali Krishna takes us to Budapest’s pioneering “ruin bar” to see how urban environments persevere through destruction.
How citizens stay informed: why strong city journalism matters
We review some strong city journalism to see how these publications and productions are helping city residents to stay informed about the environments that they live, work and play in.
Tall Stories 469: Tyra: the World’s Largest Dinosaur, Drumheller
Sheena Rossiter tells us the story of Tyra, the world’s largest dinosaur, and how the community and the rest of Canada are reacting to news of her removal.
Rethinking streets as third spaces in the car-dependent US
We are in the United States this week to see how one of the world’s most car-dependent nations can make its streets more pedestrian friendly.
Live from the Brookfield x Monocle liveable cities celebration
To celebrate the release of Monocle’s Quality of Life Survey 2025, we record a special edition of the programme in association with Brookfield from the rooftop of their smart new offices in Mayfair, London.
Tall Stories 468: SoMA Residences, New York
Naomi Xu Elegant investigates the largest office-to-residential conversion in American history, which was recently completed in New York.
Adaptive reuse, shaping cities through retail and Vienna’s climate neutrality
We look at adaptive reuse through two lenses: a blockbuster case in the UK capital and an attempt to get European cities to legislate for less demolition.
Tall Stories 467: Shanghai’s urban transformation
Tomas Pinheiro explores how the millennia-old settlement of Shanghai has grown into China’s most populous urban area.
