Monocle 24: The Urbanist

Laughter is often the best way to deal with complex issues so it’s no wonder that it can make city living more agreeable. This week we explore how humour can be found in the built environment.

Laughter is often the best way to deal with complex issues so it’s no wonder that it can make city living more agreeable. This week we explore how humour can be found in the built environment.

Andrew Tuck contemplates the urban apparitions that bring a sense of belonging to the cities in which we live.

Can a city be kind? And how do citizens, activists and civic organisations show they care about building friendly places?

We visit the Bank of Georgia’s Tbilisi HQ: a unique building that takes its design cues from the ‘Space City’ concept, aiming to cover less ground and give the surrounding area back to nature.

Although it might seem ironic to hold a mobility conference in Los Angeles – infamous for its traffic woes – civic leaders, transit authorities and private mobility companies were in the city last week for the third edition of CoMotion LA. Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo reports.

We take a trip on the Flower Nagai Line, a quirky train line running through Japan’s Yamagata prefecture, that makes for a particularly unique commute.

In the second part of our series, we look beyond Germany to ask a fundamental question: why do we divide people? From a 3,200km land border in North America to Europe’s last divided capital, we explore what lessons – if any – we’ve learnt from Berlin.

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.

We take a look at the streets of New York through the eyes of one man. Originally from Virginia, Matt Green has made it his mission to walk every single street in the Big Apple’s five boroughs – a process that has taken him seven years and counting.