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
On track?
All Olympic Games host cities must consider their legacy and whether the price of hosting is actually worth it. We look back to Rio de Janeiro, Sydney and more.
Tall Stories 47: park benches
This week we make our way to Regent’s Park to find traditional London park benches: wooden armrests at either end and wide enough to accommodate three ample backsides. Who doesn’t love a good park bench?
Technology in the cities
From innovations in public lighting to what Madrid’s new Google Campus has done for the city, how has the digital revolution caught up with our cities? Plus: Vienna’s uneasy relationship with technology and a word from our Hong Kong bureau chief.
Tall Stories 46: Ikseon-dong
This week we head to Seoul to visit a neighbourhood that’s beaten the odds. Ikseon-dong was the country’s first real-estate development project back in the early 1930s – but there’s not much left in the city from that period.
Positive migration
There are many ways to talk about migration and at a time when the debate is so divided, we highlight some of the projects and stories doing it the right way.
Tall Stories 45: Bratislava’s Panelaky
Forty years of communist planning left an indelible architectural mark on Slovakia, with rows upon rows of shabby prefabricated blocks. By some estimates Slovakia is home to more of them than any other country in the former Soviet bloc. But a recent project in Bratislava has demonstrated that the outdated…
Rethinking the city
In this special live episode of The Urbanist, Monocle editor Andrew Tuck hands over the floor to Arne Olsson, managing director of Folkhem, Martin Barry, founder of Resite, Elizabeth Reynolds, director of Urben and Nick Rees, architectural director of The Collective, who will discuss the future of the city.
Tall Stories 44: Pirelli Tower
We explore the 32-storey skyscraper that is one of Milan’s most influential pieces of modern architecture.
Not so easy
City-building is tough – we try to imagine how tough it is in a secluded country such as North Korea. Meanwhile, Cairo plans to build a new administrative capital in the desert. Plus: what do fashion houses do for our cities?
Tall Stories 43: Hong Kong’s street names
Our Hong Kong bureau chief James Chambers gives us a snapshot of how the city’s historical ties with the UK can be seen all across its streets – and what that means for residents.
