Reporting, photo essays and short dispatches, newest first.
Cities that answer to the water
A harbour skyline seen through a frame of white steel, and a hill city after dark: two ways a city arranges itself to face the water.
A bookshop, one book at a time
The most revealing moment in a bookshop is the one when a reader turns a book over. Notes on browsing by hand.
Reading a red-brick museum front
Arches, small domes and a great deal of red brick: how to read a historic civic facade from the pavement, one layer at a time.
After ten, the hills light up
A night walk above a river city built on hills, reading its streets by the colour and rhythm of their lights.
The shaded path through the park
A wide stone path under a dense canopy, and why the best-used route through a city park is so often the one with the most shade.
Boats along the fishing channel
In a small fishing town the channel is the main street: boats moored along its length and the working day within a few steps of the water.
A city drawn as a star
Seen from above, a triumphal arch sits at the centre of a star of avenues. What that plan does for the people walking it.
The street that climbs to the city hall
A narrow uphill street of colourful houses, closed at the top by a reddish dome: a civic building placed where every walker will see it.
