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
Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz
We meet Puerto Rican politician Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan and an outspoken critic of President Trump’s handling of the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma.
Comedy and urbanism
Laughter is often the best way to deal with complex issues so it’s no wonder that it can make city living more agreeable. This week we explore how humour can be found in the built environment.
Kindness
Can a city be kind? And how do citizens, activists and civic organisations show they care about building friendly places?
CoMotion LA 2019
Although it might seem ironic to hold a mobility conference in Los Angeles – infamous for its traffic woes – civic leaders, transit authorities and private mobility companies were in the city last week for the third edition of CoMotion LA. Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo reports.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, part 2
In the second part of our series, we look beyond Germany to ask a fundamental question: why do we divide people? From a 3,200km land border in North America to Europe’s last divided capital, we explore what lessons – if any – we’ve learnt from Berlin.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, part 1
Thirty years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, we ask what life was like for citizens in a divided Berlin and discuss some of the lessons we can learn from the German capital to help repair the divisions faced by cities today.
CityLab 2019
This week we’re in Washington to join civic leaders, mayors and activists at the global summit on cities. We reveal how Atlanta dealt with a massive cyberattack, discuss the difference between urban sound and noise, talk smart mobility in Detroit and hear about the importance of reclaiming our streets.
Alfredo Brillembourg
How do you make better homes in informal settlements? Should Caracas embrace the ingenuity of squatter communities? How do you build a sports centre on a shack-covered mountain? And what happens if you don’t do any of the above? Andrew Tuck sits down with Venezuelan architect Alfredo Brillembourg to talk…
Making space
How do you design and develop spaces for specific groups and activities? And how do these spaces affect the urban fabric of our cities? The use of public areas guides the way we connect with one another, so it’s important to get it right.
New-towns movement
Purpose planned and purpose built, the new-towns movement sought to let some air out of congested industrialised centres after the Second World War. But how have these towns fared and could a fresh wave of them be the cure to some of the 21st century’s urban ailments?
