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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 boring rich
Rich is boring: we look at Zürich, Vancouver, London, Milan and New York to ask why rich cities or neighbourhoods can seem like the ones with the least going on.
Debunking urban myths
City myths: what happens when what we think of cities turns out to be untrue? From superstitions to bogus branding, we visit London, Jerusalem, Milan, Zürich and Toronto.
Mapping cities
Maps: we hear about the man who made New York a grid, find out why some Swiss prefer a relief and learn about Beirut through one of its first maps.
The controversy over gentrification
Gentrification: we speak to critics and champions, and visit Warsaw, Budapest, San Francisco, Madrid and Tel Aviv to ask about the role of people, architecture and history in the ever-controversial process.
The evolution of concrete
Concrete: invented in the Roman era but seemingly modern, we talk about concrete with architects, urbanists, psychologists and academics. Does it drive us mad? How does it differ in Japan, Italy or Switzerland? And…
Hometown bound
Hometowns: heading back to hometowns can remind us how they work, or don’t, and what the future holds for a collection of buildings that were once very familiar. We check out Bemidji, Winnipeg, LA…
Unveiling the views
Views: a commute into Glasgow, we walk the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto and why Warsaw is trying to hide one of its most iconic buildings.
Inspiring the future
London: Andrew Tuck sits down with City of London planner Peter Rees and landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, to discuss how the past inspires the future of design in London.
2012 highlights
Best of 2012: Building cities from scratch to squatted-in skyscrapers, street-sweepers and a series of our favourite Tall Stories, it’s the best the city had to offer in 2012.
Winter’s breath of life
Winter: how even today, Christmas is breathing new life into Bethlehem, why we need skating rinks in cities and we speak to city lighting expert Mark Major.
