The Urbanist

We explore the newly transformed spaces in the historic Heal’s department store in London, investigate the new building frontiers required to tackle the Netherlands’ housing needs and find out what makes an effective innovation hub.

Elna Schutz takes us to a Johannesburg institution that is almost as old as the city itself to see how the space has retained its classic charm while remaining relevant.

A few on-stage highlights from Monocle’s The Chiefs conference in Hong Kong, from Kevin Mark Low on architectural benchmarks and Noni Purnomo on tackling traffic to Yuta Oka on small-scale hospitality that revitalises communities.

Petri Burtsoff takes us to a historic military fortress off the coast of Helsinki to see how Finns make use of the island today.

Green thumbs can help to transform communities. We speak to an activist and horticulturist about how gardening has had a positive effect on his neighbourhood – and helped it to heal after tragedy. Then: we find out how two wintery countries encourage their citizens to take to two wheels, as well as what similarities they share. Plus: a look at a proposed tax designed to ensure that housing stock in Austria is utilised to its fullest.