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
The way forward
We find out how a tent used by Mongolian nomads is getting a facelift, we take the temperature of the race for the mayor’s office in New York and hear about the country with the most freshwater in the world – that also suffers from drought. Plus: Amsterdam bans tourist…
All connected now
How do we relate to a city? This week we look at the different ways we engage with our urban environments, be it through green spaces, by sharing a book or two or even being on the water.
Checking in
It’s a bit of a correspondents special: from New York to Hong Kong, Zürich and a splash of Brazil too.
Spotlight on Aarhus
We joined the Academy of Urbanism’s 2017 Congress to report from Denmark’s second city of Aarhus, on everything from its waterfront development to participatory urbanism and lessons for other cities. Plus: a special interview with Jan Gehl.
Urban challenges
We speak to the co-author of ‘The Public Wealth of Cities’ to find out about boosting prosperity in our urban centres. Plus: we head to East London to discover a rooftop dwelling disguised as a warehouse air duct.
After Harvey
When Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, no one could have predicted the level of destruction it caused. As floodwaters retreat and rubble is lifted, we shine the spotlight on this city and the way urban areas can start to heal after the grieving is done.
Rule-breakers
On what side of the law does your city stand? There are still a few fugitives around, allowing what many other metropolises banned a long time ago: from public nudity to smoking indoors and even a little afternoon dip to cool off – in public that is.
By the water
The sea conquers the land: we hear how politics around the Suez Canal has propelled Egypt to the world stage, how Vienna solved its flood problem with the help of engineering and examine the heritage of fascism along the Adriatic coast.
Land reclamation and prizes
What are the logistical aspects of creating land? We discover the Netherlands’ approach to land reclamation and examine the rise and fall of London’s Garden Bridge. Plus: in Austria even terrible, awful, unplanned architecture gets rewarded.
River crossing
Bridges are meant to make our cities better connected but sometimes they highlight existing divides. We explore two very different examples in Lisbon and Budapest. Plus: a special report exploring the outskirts of London.
