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
Can a building be bad?
This week we look at controversial built environments, often the legacy of dictatorships and fascism, and how cities around the world have dealt with their pasts.
Urban lighting
We might not think about it very often but high-quality urban lighting is a determining factor in how we experience our cities. In this episode we look at the history of light in urban environments, how they can make places safer and even nighttime design. Plus: how crucial lighting is…
Building back equally
We rewrite that most recent of urbanist battle cries and look at how to build back equally.
The future of US transportation
With a new administration in residence at the White House and cities beginning to recover from the pandemic, is there some hope on the horizon for transport in the United States?
Diary of a year in lockdown
Monocle’s editor in chief Andrew Tuck opens up his diary charting the past 12 months, as the UK marks a year since it first entered into lockdown.
The quest for perfection
We explore some of the different approaches that cities have taken in the quest for perfection.
The urbanist dictionary
We take a look at the language of urbanism in the hopes of unravelling the jargon frequently thrown around in city discourse.
‘Grands projets’
We look at ‘grands projets’ in cities around the world, from turning the Champs-Élysées into a giant urban garden to a reimagining of the Los Angeles river and a new community in Canada.
Hopes for 2021
We ask a collection of city-makers, thinkers and doers to describe their hopes for urban life this year.
ULI Europe Conference
This week we report on the Urban Land Institute’s 2021 Europe Conference. In line with the current climate, this was a virtual affair but, as always, it was an event packed with great guests sharing their ideas on how to make our cities better.
