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
Tall Stories 254: Trbovlje chimney, Slovenia
Monocle’s Guy De Launey braves the heights of Europe’s tallest chimney to show us one way to grapple with such an enormous structure after it loses its original purpose.
Olympics special, part one: Tokyo 2020
For many cities, the Olympic Games are an opportunity to show to the world why they are great metropolises and a tool for reinventing themselves. In episode one of our two-part series, we look at the upcoming Games, Tokyo 2020. Monocle’s editor in chief Andrew Tuck speaks with Gavin McAlpine,…
Tall Stories 253: Torre Fara, Chiavari
We explore a story of rebirth and repurpose on the Italian Riviera.
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.
Tall Stories 252: Cinemateca, Montevideo
We visit the new home for the national film archive of Uruguay.
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…
Tall Stories 251: Precollinear Park, Turin
We stop by a linear park constructed along a stretch of unused tram lines, conceived by the Torino Stratosferica collective.
Building back equally
We rewrite that most recent of urbanist battle cries and look at how to build back equally.
Tall Stories 250: UN headquarters, New York
Christopher Cermak charts his journey from model UN to reporting on the real thing and explains what the organisation’s New York HQ means to the city.
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?
