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
Assessing the average
We discuss the impact an average-sized building, such as a mid-sized office or modest apartment block, can have on its community.
Tall Stories 192: Pelourinho, Salvador
This week we’re off to Brazil for a wander through Salvador’s historical centre, Pelourinho, where we learn about the area’s complicated heritage, and its significance to the country’s black history.
Handling a crisis
How should cities handle a crisis? As the threat of the coronavirus spreads, we look at how our urban areas have coped when disaster has struck, be it terrorism, a health emergency, a natural disaster or a cyber attack.
Tall Stories 191: Janeiro Hotel, Rio de Janeiro
We head to Rio to explore the new Janeiro Hotel in the district of Leblon. Run by the owner of Brazilian fashion label Osklen, this home away from home in an old seafront building stays faithful to the brand with its chic tropical touches.
Moving capitals
We ask why leaders often flirt with the idea of changing their country’s capital and what it means if those plans go ahead.
Tall Stories 190: Nonbei Yokocho, Tokyo
This week we head to the alleyways of Shibuya in Japan’s capital to learn how small coincidences can make seemingly impenetrable cities feel a little more welcoming.
Small Cities
They’re not for everyone but the best small cities can have life-enhancing advantages. Living in them isn’t only about space, comfort and affordability – but a more community-minded feel too.
Tall Stories 189: Happy Foot Sad Foot
This week Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo takes us to the neighbourhood of Silver Lake in Los Angeles to share the story of an unassuming city icon: a rotating sign outside a foot clinic.
Transit maps
How does the design of a transit map help to define a city? Our host Andrew Tuck is joined by three experts and enthusiasts in the field to discuss provenance and progression in the way we chart our transport lines – from London’s Tube to New York’s subway.
Tall Stories 188: HoHo Wien, Vienna
We visit HoHo Wien – one of the world’s tallest wooden skyscrapers. Towering 84 metres above northeast Vienna, this new wooden structure is being hailed as a “lighthouse project” of sustainable living.
