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
Private cities
We open up about privacy in cities: when public living goes private, why all the best spaces are hidden, peering into your neighbour’s home, and the app that will help you find seclusion.
Urban activist
Rise up: we look at activism and urbanism. From years-long protests that are more monument than movement to how one architect’s interventions in Tijuana are helping turn the city around.
Work cultures
Nine to Five: we discuss work cultures in different cities, from why the siesta may be over in Madrid to why Copenhagen’s unemployed are turning to selling their CVs in storefronts rather than the internet. Plus, what CEOs can teach City Hall.
Metropolis monstrosities
Monster mash: in this episode we look at urban monstrosities – what to do with unfinished and unsightly projects, from viaducts in Vancouver to Berlin’s bungled Brandenburg airport.
Blank space
Emptiness: can blank spaces be good for our cities? In Germany we visit a resort town in the off-season and check out one of Madrid’s main plazas – the emptied Edificio España.
City scientists
Science: we turn our noses up at planners and mayors and ask what neuroscientists, psychologists and ecologists have to say about our cities
Finding a city’s musical note
Music: A project asking musicians to seek inspiration in cities, why Vienna is ready for a musical rebrand and do city-centre festivals make good neighbours?
The urbanist dictionary
Word games: what’s in an urbanist’s dictionary and how does language affect how we see our cities? From branding slogans to the word on the street, we look into the identity of the places we live.
Cabbie culture
Taxi ranking: niche companies, turf wars and obsessions from the front seat. We explore cabbie culture from restaurant recommendations to why you can’t beat the Knowledge.
The guide to living in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: why the city is becoming a creative hub and how to live among the world’s largest collection of skyscrapers.
