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
Best of ‘Tall Stories’ 2022
Monocle’s editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, looks back at his favourite episodes of ‘Tall Stories’ from 2022.
Best of 2022
Monocle’s editor in chief Andrew Tuck recalls some of his favourite interviews and reports from the year on ‘The Urbanist’.
Christmas in the city
We visit Europe’s best Christmas market in Tallinn, discover a US town that has been dubbed “Christmas City” since the 1930s and get a letter from our resident grinch, Andrew Mueller. Plus: Andrew Tuck and Carlota Rebelo go head-to-head in our second annual quiz: festive edition.
2022: Urbanism in review
What were the biggest wins in the world of urbanism over the past 12 months? With the help of our global correspondents, we get a view from around the world about some of this year’s successes in planning, architecture and civic leadership, and what they mean for their cities.
Democratising public space
Creating cities that are truly open requires the perspectives of the entire community. We speak to two promoters of the democratisation of urban design – Gail Shillingford of B+H Architects and Deborah Saunt of architecture, urban design and spatial research studio DSDHA – who explain how to build environments that…
‘Meanwhile City’ and Monocle’s Small Cities Index
We discuss temporary urban interventions with Petra Marko, author of ‘Meanwhile City’, and visit one of the pop-up projects that it describes. We also look at Bozeman, Montana, to see how it found itself in Monocle’s Small Cities Index in the latest edition of ‘The Forecast’.
The future of transit in California
What’s ahead for the way in which we get around in cities? We stop at Comotion LA to explore some new ideas and take a trip to San Diego to see how we can bolster the existing bus network.
Cop27: cities and climate
While much focus has been on nations and their commitments to curb emissions, cities have long been at the forefront of green innovation and clean mobility. Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo reports from Cop27 in Egypt.
Taking out the trash
One person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure. This week we meet Vienna’s refuse collectors, Istanbul’s ‘eskicis’ and hear how Zagreb and Belgrade are addressing visual pollution in their cities.
Sharing is caring
Cities are better when shared. We look into The Phoenix, a new sustainable neighbourhood planned for the south of England; talk about co-operative housing in Zürich; and stop by a new co-living complex in Leuven.
