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
Loving your neighbourhood
Laws of attraction: what makes you love a certain neighbourhood or street? This week we have a look at the design competition for Helsinki’s proposed Guggenheim museum, wander around Barcelona’s Gothic quarter, chat with New York’s deputy mayor and make a quick stop in Belgrade.
Emptiness
Emptiness: cities often struggle with it and some have too little to spare. With Helsinki having just published a report on the problem, we ask what are the kinds of spaces that city-dwellers will be moving to next?
The Atlantic Dialogues 2014
Atlantic Dialogues: we hit the road and report from this year’s Atlantic Dialogues event in Marrakech, including interviews with the mayor of Rotterdam, the former mayor of LA, and we discuss the goals of the Ford Foundation.
Water in an urban environment
Water: this week we talk about one of the most essential elements in any urban environment and visit cities using water to their advantage. We also learn why others are battling over it, explore some of the world’s lost rivers and take a reluctant closer look at sanitation.
What’s next for our cities
From ridding ourselves of cars and making sure every last takeaway cup is recycled to simply avoiding chaos, we explore the ideas of those addressing the future of our cities.
The green city
The green city: we look at the lofty ideals of carbon-neutral metropolises and the practicality of the matter. Sure, you’ve planted trees but can you afford the maintenance?
Cities for all ages
Big cities spend a lot of time focused on youth; building their future on the backs of those with energy and ambition. Yet with ageing populations affecting many urban centres, we ask what cities should do to benefit all age brackets.
The beauty episode
The beauty episode: does a pretty place improve quality of life? And what fits into the category of “beautification” – can baroque architecture and graffiti coexist?
Dying breeds
The dying breeds: Cities are rapidly changing places in the global hierarchy and with all of the new people, new buildings and new things to do, some are inevitably left behind. In this episode we’re looking at some fading classics and also tracking the changes that will help cities of…
World cities
World cities: capitals of commerce, culture, politics or transport are in a bare-knuckle fight to attract the world’s attention. But should every city try to play this game? We look at the savvy world cities who know their target audience.
