11 December 2014
Episode 165
52 minutes
Visionaries: we meet the man trying to boost the public use of New York’s landmark galleries and museums, learn how London would look if it were a national park and find out what Belgrade stands to gain if some cinema-loving activists get their way.
11 December 2014
Share episode
DownloadWant more radio episodes like these in your inbox?
Sign up to Monocle's email newsletters to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.
The Urbanist - latest episodes
Land reclamation and prizes
What are the logistical aspects of creating land? We discover the Netherlands’ approach to land reclamation and examine the rise and fall of London’s Garden Bridge. Plus: in Austria even terrible, awful, unplanned archit…
Tall Stories 69: Bijlmerbajes
The Bijlmerbajes in south Amsterdam was designed as a humane prison when it opened in 1978 but in recent years it has taken on a new life: it is now a creative hub for locals and refugees alike.
River crossing
Bridges are meant to make our cities better connected but sometimes they highlight existing divides. We explore two very different examples in Lisbon and Budapest. Plus: a special report exploring the outskirts of London…
Tall Stories 68: Montreal’s Olympic Stadium
Following the news that Montreal’s Olympic Stadium is to be transformed into a welcome centre for asylum seekers, our Toronto bureau chief Tomos Lewis tells the story of one of the city’s most famed structures.
Urban Resilience Summit
Highlights and insights from this year’s Urban Resilience Summit by the 100 Resilient Cities network, which assembled more than 500 urban leaders, practitioners and city activists in New York.
Tall Stories 67: the Alberta Legislature
This government building that sits just across the river downtown is a postcard for the city. Monocle’s Sheena Rossiter takes us on a trip to learn the history behind the iconic building and what it means to her as a…
Faith
On this week’s episode we look at how religion has shaped our cities: be it how communities gather, influencing popular culture or impacting the levels of pollution.
Tall Stories 66: Santa Maria dello Spasimo
Construction of this church began in 1509 – and is yet to be completed. The structure is still missing a roof but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: come night-time it is an architectural feature that makes it all the more…
Participatory urbanism
Join us! A city can only evolve in the right way when citizens and communities are engaged in how changes should take place.
Tall Stories 65: Moscow’s fluff
Moscow has been hit by such unseasonable weather this summer that people won’t be surprised if it starts snowing tomorrow. But amid all this chaos there’s one thing that’s reassuringly consistent: poplar fluff.
Gardens, integration and pollution
Making a concrete jungle greener in Brazil, using a new library to promote integration in Toronto and how a bike can suck in air pollution and pump out clean air.
Tall Stories 64: Cycling through Amsterdam
Monocle’s Joleen Goffin hops on her bicycle and takes control of the road as she tells us about the joys of cycling in Amsterdam.
Temporary
We hear all about the new temporary parliament in Vienna, discover how a temporary pavilion can improve public life and create a community, and ask if pop-up retail spaces can change the way we shop.
Tall Stories 63: Diário de Notícias building
For this week’s edition of Tall Stories, The Urbanist’s Carlota Rebelo tells us the story of Lisbon’s Diário de Notícias building, the country's first purpose-built newsroom.
Resite 2017, part two
We bring you interviews with the mayor of Prague, Adriana Krnacova; architects David Bravo and Ivan Kucina; lighting designer Leni Schwendinger; and city architect for Warsaw, Marlena Happach.