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
A good response
We look at some of the better executed reactions to the coronavirus pandemic from countries around the world and assess how cities have been at the core of both the fallout and the recovery.
Tall Stories 210: Brockwell Park, London
Monocle’s Holly Fisher finds solace (and gardening tips) in one part of her neighbourhood green space during lockdown.
The challenge of isolation
We look at how those living in high-density areas, or without any form of home at all, have gone about the tricky task of protecting their health during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tall Stories 209: Tom Parker Fountain, Napier
Monocle’s David Stevens takes us to Napier, on New Zealand’s east coast, to explain how one beachfront fountain symbolises the city’s post-earthquake rebirth.
Moving day
We look at some of the migration habits and moving-day quirks of city dwellers around the world from before the coronavirus outbreak, as well as at how to move an historic red-light district.
Tall Stories 208: Ta Prosfygika, Athens
Venetia Rainey takes us to visit an apartment complex in Athens that still displays many scars from its eventful past.
Letters from the city
How a city handles a pandemic reveals much about its character. As urban centres around the world begin to reopen, Monocle’s correspondents send us letters from their own outposts.
Tall Stories 207: Deutsches Haus, Ho Chi Minh City
James Chambers brings us the story of a building complex in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City that forms a symbol of relations between Vietnam and Germany.
Coronavirus and mobility
The pandemic has reshaped the way that we move around our cities. Public transport usage is at an all-time low, cycling is on the rise and pedestrians have been reclaiming the streets and pavements. Could this be an opportunity for actual change in the places we live?
Tall Stories 206: The Internet of Nature
Nadina Galle tells us about her work on the ‘Internet of Nature’ and how much we can learn from the biological networks that exist in our cities.
