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
Tall Stories 80: Terrassenhaus
First theorised by the Austrian architect and designer Adolf Loos in the 1920s, the Terrassenhaus was not realised until the mid-1970s in several big housing development projects on the periphery of Vienna. This week, Monocle’s Alexei Korolyov tours one of the more well-known examples.
CityLab Paris, part 1: mayors special
More than 40 mayors, numerous civic officials and urban leaders from across the globe flocked to Paris earlier this week to discuss the trends of the cities of tomorrow. In this first episode, we keep up with the mayors.
Tall Stories 79: Revamping the Isar River
Originally central to establishing Munich, the Isar was, sadly, neglected. Our correspondent Janek Schmidt tells us how it is being regenerated and adding a new dimension to the city’s quality of life.
Identity
What is that sense that distinguishes one city from another? From urban features, to planning, cultural institutions or values, there are certain quirks that immediately define a city or region.
Tall Stories 78: Torre Velasca
On the eve of its 60th anniversary we decide to take a closer look at Milan’s Torre Velasca, a skyscraper that, despite its groundbreaking design, received mixed reactions on its debut.
The way forward
We find out how a tent used by Mongolian nomads is getting a facelift, we take the temperature of the race for the mayor’s office in New York and hear about the country with the most freshwater in the world – that also suffers from drought. Plus: Amsterdam bans tourist…
Tall Stories 77: Kulttuurisauna
This week Monocle’s Chiara Rimella bares all and explains to us how an Alvar Aalto-inspired sauna convinced her to dive headfirst into Helsinki’s culture.
All connected now
How do we relate to a city? This week we look at the different ways we engage with our urban environments, be it through green spaces, by sharing a book or two or even being on the water.
Tall Stories 76: Lisbon’s street lamps
We visit a city known for its natural light to explore the history behind the urban fixture responsible for illuminating it in the evenings.
Checking in
It’s a bit of a correspondents special: from New York to Hong Kong, Zürich and a splash of Brazil too.
