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
‘Architecture is Climate’
We speak to Jeremy Till and Tatjana Schneider – two of the authors behind ‘Architecture is Climate’ – a new book rethinking the industry and its foundations in an age of ecological crisis.
Tall Stories 488: The bunker in Schönbornpark, Vienna
Alexei Korolyov visits an air-raid bunker that has laid empty for decades but is now being brought back to life through art.
MIPIM Asia 2025: What are Asian cities learning from each other?
We report from MIPIM Asia in Hong Kong, where delegates from across the APAC region and beyond discussed solutions to meet the rapid pace of urbanisation. Plus: a city reeling from a devastating fire in Tai Po.
Tall Stories 487: Strolling Athens’ stoas
Paul Logothetis takes us to an iconic feature of Athens’ urban fabric – covered walkways offering much needed shade and a space for socialising.
Testing the pressure on our cities with the 2025 Workforce Preference Barometer
JLL’s Sue Asprey Price joins us to discuss the findings from the Workforce Preference Barometer 2025. Then Charlotte McDonald-Gibson reports on the challenges of training for combat in urban environments.
Tall Stories 486: The towering beauty of Switzerland’s Grande Dixence Dam
Jessica Bridger marvels at the tallest dam in Europe, which was constructed in the 1950s and supplies about 20 per cent of Switzerland’s stored energy.
What relationship does South Korea have with public art? Plus: Dubai Design Week and Riba president Chris Williamson.
We speak to South Korean artist Jinjoon Lee about how his country interacts with public art, Inzamam Rashid visits an acclaimed installation from Dubai Design Week and we meet new Riba president Chris Williamson.
Tall Stories 485: Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Natural Sciences
Petri Burtsoff takes us to a first-of-its-kind wooden educational building in the Finnish capital.
Planning the cities of the future at the Smart City Expo World Congress
We visit the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona to talk shop with the mayor of Kuala Lumpur, an acclaimed futurist, a transportation official from Los Angeles and the event’s director.
Tall Stories 484: Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael
Ivan Carvalho chronicles the story of Frank Lloyd Wright’s largest public project, the final commission in his impressive body of work.
