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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
New-towns movement
Purpose planned and purpose built, the new-towns movement sought to let some air out of congested industrialised centres after the Second World War. But how have these towns fared and could a fresh wave of them be the cure to some of the 21st century’s urban ailments?
Tall Stories 177: Khlongs, Bangkok
We take to the water in Bangkok to explore the khlongs, a vast network of canals that crisscross the Southeast Asian city. Home to bustling commuters, tottering tourists and floating markets, these still-thriving waterways are the city’s ancient lifeblood.
Resite 2019: Revisited
We’re back in Prague to zoom in on some of the big projects and bold ideas that emerged from Resite 2019. From the waterways of New York to the alleyways of Beijing, we we seek out the highlights from this year’s event.
Tall Stories 176: The Vessel, New York
We visit Thomas Heatherwick’s often lambasted Vessel, in New York’s Hudson Yards development, to see whether pointed prose or people power is a better judge of character when it comes to unusual structures.
Resite 2019: Regenerate
We decamp to Prague to join the 1,000+ attendees at this year’s reSITE conference. Exploring the theme of regeneration, we bring you conversations and contemplations from some of the most interesting names in the urban-planning world.
Tall Stories 175: The Narkomfin building, Moscow
We’re off to Moscow to look at one of the best-known examples of Constructivist architecture: Moisei Ginzburg’s iconic Narkomfin building. Designed to embody the early-Soviet ideal of communal living but soon falling out of favour with the Kremlin, the building fell into disrepair until Ginzburg’s grandson Alexei led much-needed renovations…
Heritage, part two
Cities are tasked with protecting their historic environments but how can they do this in a way that preserves the sites while keeping them accessible to the public?
Tall Stories 174: The Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
We head to north Africa where we visit the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Completed in 1993 after six years of round-the-clock work, this hulking structure can house 25,000 worshippers. With some ambitious features to go along with its hefty price tag, the mosque is a symbol of postwar Morocco…
Heritage, part one
As our cities grow, they face difficulties reconciling conservation and development. So how can we move forward while preserving the history of a place? This week we examine how heritage can be both a blessing and a curse for the urban environment.
Tall Stories 173: The Column of Justice, Florence
We’re off to Florence to admire a 16th-century monument in Piazza Santa Trinita. The Column of Justice, an 11-metre-tall granite column with a statue of Justice perched atop, has a particular positioning and peculiar history that tells us some truths about the relationship between art and the city.
