The Urbanist

Nov 18 2024 100 ep. 18 mins 11.1k
The Urbanist Podcast artwork

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.

  Society & Culture
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Tall Stories 435: Streetcars in El Paso

Nov 18 2024 4 mins  
Gregory Scruggs hops aboard a street car in El Paso to find out how the revival of this transportation option has struck a chord with the locals.

Protecting London’s past

Nov 14 2024 30 mins  
We explore some iconic parts of London’s past through ‘London Lost Interiors’, a book revealing the great indoors of the UK capital. Plus: a cylindrical example of brutalist architecture, Space House, which has been preserved for future generations.

Tall Stories 434: Millionaire’s Row, George Town

Nov 11 2024 7 mins  
Tomás Pinheiro discusses the history of a prestigious street in the capital of Malaysia’s Penang state and assesses some of the new developments taking over the area.

Utopian Hours 2024

Nov 07 2024 31 mins  
Monocle’s Ed Stocker reports from Turin’s annual festival of urbanism, Utopian Hours, where a collection of inspiring speakers discussed everything from meanwhile spaces to climate resilience. Plus: we visit the river Po to see how it interacts with the Piedmontese capital.

Tall Stories 433: Holcim Foundation Awards series: Sou Fujimoto

Nov 04 2024 6 mins  
Each week we welcome one of the jury chairs of the Holcim Foundation Awards – the world’s premier competition for sustainable design – to hear their views on creating uplifting places, fostering a healthy planet and building thriving communities. In the fifth and final episode we sit down with the Japanese architect and founder of his eponymous studio, Sou Fujimoto.

US elections special

Oct 31 2024 30 mins  
We are using the upcoming US election to put a spotlight on American cities and the challenges they face. We discuss housing struggles, how to get around, the changing world of work, the resulting state of downtown cores and how apps are altering our urban fabric.

Tall Stories 432: Holcim Foundation Awards series: Sandra Barclay

Oct 28 2024 6 mins  
Every week we welcome one of the jury chairs of the Holcim Foundation Awards – the world’s premier competition for sustainable design – to hear their views on creating uplifting places, fostering a healthy planet and building thriving communities. In episode four we meet Peruvian architect and co-founder of Barclay & Crousse, Sandra Barclay.

WEF: Urban Transformation Summit

Oct 24 2024 29 mins  
Monocle’s Carlota Rebelo reports from the World Economic Forum’s annual Urban Transformation Summit, which took place in San Francisco this week. We discover the city’s plans to build a resilient waterfront, hear about South Africa’s ambitions to tackle the housing crisis and how the private sector can help deliver urban innovation.

Tall Stories 431: Holcim Foundation Awards series: Kjetil Thorsen

Oct 21 2024 7 mins  
Every week we invite one of the jury chairs of the Holcim Foundation Awards – the world’s premier competition for sustainable design – to discuss their views on creating uplifting places, fostering a healthy planet and building thriving communities. In episode three we speak with Norwegian architect and co-founder of Snøhetta, Kjetil Thorsen.

Designing for nature

Oct 17 2024 31 mins  
In a special episode in collaboration with the Holcim Foundation Awards, we look at how to design nature into our cities and foster sustainability in the building sector. We meet Laura Viscovich, the Holcim Foundation’s executive director for sustainable construction, and bring you a live discussion from the Natural History Museum in London where we discover the foundation’s aw