What factors help us feel good in the city and how can planning departments do their bit? From street layouts to lighting to a lick of fresh paint, it’s all in the details.
It isn’t as easy as some governments might suppose to build a metropolis from scratch with all the vibrancy of a city that has grown naturally. So here are three examples of cities from different periods of history that…
What happens when urban planning goes wrong? The answer is Dongguan, a metropolis hastily erected on the back of a 1980s economic boom. With poor transport and half-empty shopping centres, life is a struggle. But authori…
City dwellers pine for attractive and usable spaces; city planners are beginning to take note. We visit the places where poetic verses are daubed on streets, statues of dogs add a dose of whimsy and ‘playable pavements’…
Throughout the five boroughs of New York, space is at a premium. For the city’s planners, that means making intelligent use of existing waterfronts and parks to showcase that famous skyline from a fresh perspective.
Founded 32 years ago, Nigerian capital Abuja was a utopian dream. But it became marred by corruption and few could afford to live there. Today, as the cranes return, its new minister is attempting to forge a truly African…
Our editor-in-chief jumps on his bike to find forgotten corners of the city in need of reimagining and offers a recipe that works – if you can find the ingredients.
The codes of good urban planning are common sense. But sometimes those rules are there to be broken and, as in these five examples, the results can work surprisingly well.
Denmark, Sweden and Finland boast institutions devoted to seeking design-led solutions to societal problems. Are they guiding stars for the world to follow?
The most brilliantly effective ideas are usually the most simple. Trams to deliver goods, field tests for aid programmes, and free access to contraception in Africa – these are some examples that Monocle believes will have…
As mayor of Curitiba in Brazil, Jaime Lerner turned heads with his forward-thinking schemes. He took the kids off the streets by paying them to clean them up and had fishermen angling for rubbish so they could work off…
‘Next American City’ magazine has succeeded in making urban planning a national debate since it was launched in 2003, but its founders’ lofty ambitions mean they will not be satisfied until the ultimate goal has been ach…
Sauerbruch Hutton was one of the first architecture firms to promote the value of sustainable building. Now it’s in demand across Europe, expanding into furniture and pushing developers to think bigger.