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
Revisiting, reviewing and restoring the city
We look back at snapshots of our cities as we speak to the man behind Milan’s Bosco Verticale a decade on from construction, revisit a collection of essays 14 years after they were written while strolling the streets of Toronto and see how the refurbishment of a traditional house in…
Tall Stories 447: Kennedy Park, Lima
Elna Schütz takes us to a park in Lima best known for its large number of well-cared-for resident cats.
Digital democracy and the new Riyadh Metro
We explore how going digital can contribute to a thriving city democracy and improve other things such as climate resilience and urban loneliness. The CEO of digital community-engagement platform Go Vocal describes its benefit for communities, the developer behind Europe’s most digitally connected neighbourhood tells us how they did it…
Tall Stories 446: Villa Rezek, Vienna
Alexei Korolyov tells us about the refurbishment of one of Vienna’s most important modernist buildings.
Developing London
We take a look at three developments in the UK capital that will be worth a visit in the months to come. From a revitalised piece of industrial history to a colourful waterside park in a grey business district and the big tenants pitching up beside Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Tall Stories 445: Maha Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj
Geetanjali Krishna takes us to a temporary city on the banks of the Ganges river to investigate a large example of temporary urbanism brought about by a Hindu pilgrimage.
Cultural city planning
We explore how keeping culture in mind when planning our cities can have effects beyond just arts-related improvements. The people behind ‘The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning’ tell us more. Plus: we visit a treasured museum in Lima and look ahead to some cultural institutions that are set to…
Tall Stories 444: Sacré-Cœur, Paris
Carla Hyenne describes the history of Paris’s Sacré-Cœur basilica, which holds a history that many of those who visit the monument today might not be familiar with.
Los Angeles wildfires and the future of the city
We discuss the environmental causes, political response and mobility fallout surrounding the Los Angeles wildfires. We examine some of the thousands of structures lost to this catastrophic blaze that tore through many of LA’s neighbourhoods and communities.
Tall Stories 443: Helsinki’s canopy kiosks
Petri Burtsoff visits his home city to see how it has revived its “canopy kiosks”, which have been a distinctive feature of the Finnish capital for a century.
