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
Tall Stories 482: The Watergate Complex, Washington
10/27/2025
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson uncovers the modern story behind the US capital’s most infamous building.
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Duration:00:06:34
Olafur Eliasson and how public art changes your perspective on a city
10/23/2025
What role does public art play in how we engage with our cities? This week we meet acclaimed artist Olafur Eliasson and explore the Sculpture in the City programme in the City of London.
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Duration:00:33:47
Tall Stories 481: Hengermalom, Budapest
10/20/2025
Alexei Korolyov takes us to the former site of one of Budapest’s largest flour mills, which has been reborn as a lively cultural hub.
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Duration:00:07:27
Treating the US nursing shortage with good design
10/16/2025
We discover how good design can help the nursing shortage in the United States, learn about Helsinki’s annual herring market and hear how Norway is developing urban robot farming.
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Duration:00:27:19
Tall Stories 480: Johannesburg City Library
10/13/2025
Elna Schütz finds a peaceful stopping-off point amid the urban hustle and bustle at the city library of South Africa’s busiest metropolis.
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Duration:00:04:13
UN-Habitat’s call to action on housing, a Bloomberg-LSE programme for mayors and Expo Real in Munich
10/9/2025
We look at the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative teaching mayors how to tackle their cities' challenges, talk about UN-Habitat's global call to action on housing and report from Expo Real and Diriyah.
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Duration:00:33:30
Tall Stories 479: Dubai’s totemic Toyota Building
10/6/2025
Inzamam Rashid tells us how an advertising partnership helped to shape the identity of a burgeoning Dubai.
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Duration:00:06:53
What can cities learn from nature? Discover The Bioplanning Institute and the Bundanon Art Museum
10/2/2025
We meet Dror Benshetrit, a founding member of The Bioplanning Institute, who’s reframing urbanism through an ecological design lens. Plus: how the Bundanon Art Museum in Australia teaches cities to better interact with the natural world.
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Duration:00:28:12
IPUT special: meet chief executive Niall Gaffney
10/1/2025
Join us for a special episode in partnership with IPUT, Dublin’s leading property-investment company. We meet chief executive Nial Gaffney to talk about building community and setting new benchmarks for cities in Ireland.
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Duration:00:19:34
Tall Stories 478: Feira de São Cristóvão – a Nordestino feast in Rio de Janeiro
9/29/2025
Tomás Pinheiro takes us to a space in Rio de Janeiro that brings together all the best offerings from Brazil’s northeastern region and is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.
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Duration:00:08:25
The secrets to urban crowd control, compassionate design and the World Tramdriver Championship
9/25/2025
We find out how cities move crowds safely and efficiently, investigate how design can affect health and wellbeing, and stop by the World Tramdriver Championship in Vienna.
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Duration:00:31:51
Tall Stories 477: Biidaasige Park – how Toronto combines green space and flood protection
9/22/2025
Mandy Sinclair takes us to Toronto to explore the largest new park opening in a generation, which helps to prevent flooding and provide green space for residents and visitors.
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Duration:00:06:33
What we learned at the World Design Congress
9/18/2025
As the World Design Congress ponders a response to climate change, we meet one of the world’s best architects and an indigenous design expert. Plus: we visit Seattle’s new Waterfront Park.
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Duration:00:31:09
Tall Stories 476: Dulles International Airport’s Mobile Lounges, Washington
9/15/2025
Gregory Scruggs unpacks a heritage feature of Dulles International Airport in Washington that to this day gives the terminal a unique charm.
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Duration:00:07:42
Cape Town’s liveability secrets – highlights from Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference
9/11/2025
What are Cape Town’s secrets to liveability, how do you act like a local in Barcelona and why is the UAE the best place to bring people together?
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Duration:00:27:58
Tall Stories 475: Bethlem Royal Hospital and Bethlem Museum of the Mind, London
9/8/2025
Monocle’s Sophie Monaghan-Coombs tells us the story of the world’s oldest psychiatric hospital, founded in the 13th century in London.
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Duration:00:07:47
Want to find utopia? Try Columbia, Maryland
9/4/2025
We visit one of the US’s more successful attempts at a utopian society, as well as a mass-timber tower in Portland and the winners of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
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Duration:00:31:38
Tall Stories 474: Fuggerei, Augsburg – Germany’s 88-cent rent
9/1/2025
Valerie Hamilton takes us to the world’s oldest public-housing complex, which has a very unique payment system.
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Duration:00:05:22
Crowdfunding community projects, personalised airport terminals and a Swiss folk festival
8/28/2025
We explore a crowdfunding platform for community projects, learn how to personalise the airport-retail experience and head to the Olten Chilbi folk festival in Switzerland.
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Duration:00:33:42
Tall Stories 473: The Hope for Peace Monument, Beirut
8/25/2025
Noor Amylia Hilda takes us to the outskirts of Beirut to visit a monument for peace constructed from instruments of war.
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Duration:00:05:31