The Urbanist
Monocle
With an influential audience of city mayors, urban planners and architects, this is Monocle’s guide to making better cities, be it new technology, state-of-the-art subways or compact apartments. Nominee in the Smartest Podcast category of the 2019 British Podcast awards.
Location:
London, United Kingdom
Networks:
Monocle
Description:
With an influential audience of city mayors, urban planners and architects, this is Monocle’s guide to making better cities, be it new technology, state-of-the-art subways or compact apartments. Nominee in the Smartest Podcast category of the 2019 British Podcast awards.
Language:
English
Contact:
Midori House, 1 Dorset Street, London, W1U 4EG, UK +44 20 7725 4388
Email:
info@monocle.com
Episodes
New York: privatising housing co-ops, mapping congestion and the ‘City of Yes’
4/3/2025
It’s all about New York this week: Jonathan Tarleton talks about his new book ‘Homes for Living’, which explores the privatisation of two housing co-ops; we look at traffic and downtown gridlock; and discover how the ‘City of Yes’ plan will bring more density to the city.
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Duration:00:33:12
Tall Stories 452: Rideau Canal Skateway, Ottawa
3/31/2025
Paul Logothetis takes us to the world’s longest natural skating rink.
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Duration:00:06:39
Live from Ned’s Club in London
3/27/2025
Monocle’s editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, is joined on stage by Muyiwa Oki, the president of RIBA, alongside our executive producer, Carlota Rebelo, and design editor, Nic Monisse, to explore how thoughtful architecture, visionary developers and pioneering city-makers can redefine our cities.
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Duration:00:27:21
Tall Stories 451: Sun Valley Resort ski lift, Idaho
3/24/2025
Gregory Scruggs explains the story of an unlikely invention that changed the fortunes of ski towns worldwide.
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Duration:00:06:34
Can San Francisco turn its downtown around?
3/20/2025
We report from San Francisco as Monocle’s Christopher Lord speaks with some of the key players and devotees of the city’s downtown – an area that has most keenly felt the effects of the post-pandemic lull. The city’s mayor, as well as property developers and local business people, weigh in on the direction of travel they see for this gold-rush city known for its boom-and-bust nature.
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Duration:00:32:06
Tall Stories 450: The Warburg Institute, London
3/17/2025
Sarah Grice explores the history and current day offerings of the Warburg Institute Library.
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Duration:00:07:00
Mipim 2025: meet the mayors
3/13/2025
We are on the ground in Cannes for the global urban festival Mipim, where we speak with mayors from around the world who are looking to stoke interest in their cities.
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Duration:00:37:48
Tall Stories 449: Circo Voador, Rio de Janeiro
3/10/2025
Tomas Pinheiro tells us how concert venue Circo Voador became so intertwined with Brazilian music that it was named an intangible cultural heritage site.
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Duration:00:06:59
The Round megadevelopment in London and air pollution in Bangkok
3/6/2025
We explore The Round, a new 7,000-plus sq m landmark development in London, to hear how developers are putting community at its core. Plus: we’re in Bangkok to discover how the city is tackling its suffocating air pollution.
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Duration:00:30:46
Tall Stories 448: Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas
3/3/2025
Camille Rodríguez Montilla takes us to her alma mater to see why it means so much to its students, alumni and the city as a whole.
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Duration:00:07:47
Revisiting, reviewing and restoring the city
2/27/2025
We look back at snapshots of our cities as we speak to the man behind Milan’s Bosco Verticale a decade on from construction, revisit a collection of essays 14 years after they were written while strolling the streets of Toronto and see how the refurbishment of a traditional house in Old Delhi is giving a view into the city’s past.
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Duration:00:30:26
Tall Stories 447: Kennedy Park, Lima
2/24/2025
Elna Schutz takes us to a park in Lima best known for its large number of well-cared-for resident cats.
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Duration:00:05:39
Digital democracy and the new Riyadh Metro
2/20/2025
We explore how going digital can contribute to a thriving city democracy and improve other things such as climate resilience and urban loneliness. The CEO of digital community-engagement platform Go Vocal describes its benefit for communities, the developer behind Europe’s most digitally connected neighbourhood tells us how they did it and we stop by the new Riyadh Metro.
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Duration:00:29:54
Tall Stories 446: Villa Rezek, Vienna
2/17/2025
Alexei Korolyov tells us about the refurbishment of one of Vienna’s most important modernist buildings.
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Duration:00:08:53
Developing London
2/13/2025
We take a look at three developments in the UK capital that will be worth a visit in the months to come. From a revitalised piece of industrial history to a colourful waterside park in a grey business district and the big tenants pitching up beside Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
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Duration:00:30:32
Tall Stories 445: Maha Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj
2/10/2025
Geetanjali Krishna takes us to a temporary city on the banks of the Ganges river to investigate a large example of temporary urbanism brought about by a Hindu pilgrimage.
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Duration:00:06:58
Cultural city planning
2/6/2025
We explore how keeping culture in mind when planning our cities can have effects beyond just arts-related improvements. The people behind ‘The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning’ tell us more. Plus: we visit a treasured museum in Lima and look ahead to some cultural institutions that are set to open in 2025.
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Duration:00:29:43
Tall Stories 444: Sacré-Cœur, Paris
2/3/2025
Carla Hyenne describes the history of Paris’s Sacré-Cœur basilica, which holds a history that many of those who visit the monument today might not be familiar with.
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Duration:00:04:49
Los Angeles wildfires and the future of the city
1/30/2025
We discuss the environmental causes, political response and mobility fallout surrounding the Los Angeles wildfires. We examine some of the thousands of structures lost to this catastrophic blaze that tore through many of LA’s neighbourhoods and communities.
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Duration:00:33:40
Tall Stories 443: Helsinki’s canopy kiosks
1/27/2025
Petri Burtsoff visits his home city to see how it has revived its “canopy kiosks”, which have been a distinctive feature of the Finnish capital for a century.
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Duration:00:04:18