Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 01 Copenhagen

Copenhageners rejoice: your city (and its design) has our gold medal

Affairs Report: The world's top 25 most liveable cities - 2008

Months of good-natured, frequently late-night and occasionally jetlagged debate have resulted in this: our definitive (and a little subjective) guide to the world's most liveable cities.

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 02 Munich

Pipped to the post this year, 2007's champ still charms us every time

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 03 Tokyo

Behind the fast-fwd stereotype lies a big city getting the basics right

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 04 Zurich

Our continental European seat still impresses but occasionally irritates

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 05 Helsinki

Waterside revival, civic pride and a view to Asia bode well for the city

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 06 Vienna

Rooted in a rich but dark history, today's Vienna is looking forward

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 07 Stockholm

Stockholm has stopped resting on its laurels and is booming once more

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 08 Vancouver

Culturally diverse Vancouver is gearing up for a greener Games

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 09 Melbourne

Vibrant, art-loving Melbourne is booming - and sprawling

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 10 Paris

Paris has picked itself up, ready to reclaim its place as a global city

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 11 Sydney

It has its problems, but changes are promised for the harbour city

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 12 Honolulu

Sun and surf make up for the 50th state’s occasional problems

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 13 Madrid

State regeneration on a huge scale is making Madrid more appealing

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 14 Berlin

A thirst for radical ideas makes Berlin our culture leader

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 15 Barcelona

Instead of pandering to tourists, the city is putting residents first

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 16 Montreal

Canada's French capital steals our hearts, but leaves us less than green

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 17 Fukuoka

Japan's quality-of-life and shopping capital lives up to its sizeable hype

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 18 Amsterdam

Tolerance and innovation are key to the Dutch city's appeal

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 19 Minneapolis

A rustbelt revival is attracting young art, new money - and old problems

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 20 Kyoto

Green and arty Kyoto has been setting the agenda for centuries

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 21 Hamburg

Germany's liberal publishing hub has to work harder to keep the talent

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 22 Singapore

High futurism is being met by more civic freedom in Singapore – at last

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 23 Geneva

Geneva is lovely but a little staid: the canton could afford a few changes

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 24 Lisbon

Don't tell the mallrats, but Lisbon is becoming an Iberian cultural hub

Affairs Report: Top 25 liveable cities - 25 Portland

Portland skis into our good books, but needs better connections

Affairs Report: Winning losers - The world

Whether it's due to poor infrastructure, inherent inefficiency or the occasional war, these five cities have not made the Top 25 list - but that doesn't mean they're not great places to live.

Affairs Report: Paris - Global city

From international diplomacy to setting benchmarks in urbanism, from investing in culture to protecting a rich mix of independent businesses, Paris has become a hothouse for fresh thinking.

Europe Briefing: Gate keepers - Russia

During the Soviet era, only Russia's rural poor lived in houses; everyone else, from rank-and-file workers to top party functionaries, lived in apartment blocks.

Europe Briefing: City vacant - France

Already this year the youthful members of Jeudi Noir (Black Thursday) have occupied two vacant apartment blocks in central Paris, but these "citizen commandeers" want nothing to do with the image of graffiti-spraying squatters.

Q&A: Born to run - Caracas

Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez faces a new challenge - a charismatic opposition politician who believes he will soon be mayor of Caracas.

Europe Briefing: Tunnel vision - Italy & Germany

As more metropolises promote high-speed rail for short-haul travel, architects are being called in to design elaborate terminuses in city centres already short on space.

Europe Briefing: Arresting development - Spain

Is there hope for Spain's over-built coastline?

Europe Briefing: Finnish beginning - Finland

Commuting is a growing phenomenon in Finland.

Europe Briefing: Street of shame - Sweden

Sweden is known for its natural beauty, welfare benefits, tolerance and equality.

Q&A: Bjarke Ingels - Architect

Which city has mastered quality of life?

Europe Briefing: Streets behind - Italy

Milan's Corso Buenos Aires avenue is an example of how Italian high streets are losing their way.

Americas Briefing: Pedal pushing - USA

As US metropolises struggle with traffic congestion, an increasing numbers of US mayors are giving their cities a bike-friendly makeover.

Americas Briefing: Rock classics - Colombia

Medellín was once the home of one of Colombia's most notorious drug cartels.

Americas Briefing: Going with the flow - USA

Off-limits for decades because of pollution, New York's rivers are again becoming a vital part of city life.

Q&A: Gérald Tremblay - Mayor of Montréal, Canada

Which city has mastered the concept of quality of life?

Asia Briefing: Courtesy cars - Japan

While other mass transit systems have to contend with petty crime and verbal and physical assaults on staff, the Tokyo subway rarely faces such problems.

Q&A: Hiroshi Nakada - Yokohama, Japan

Which city has mastered quality of life?

Asia Briefing: Sink estates - Indonesia

A pair of wellingtons might soon be de rigeur for some Asian capitals.

Asia Briefing: Houses with Seoul

If you are looking for a cosy home in a bustling city, Seoul might not immediately spring to mind.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Project runway - Kenya

It may only be Kenya's third largest town but Eldoret has the country's most modern international airport (even if it is hardly used) with a gleaming terminal and long, smooth runway.

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Second-class citizens - UAE

One more year to go before Dubai launches its latest mega project.

Q&A: Helen Zille - Mayor of Cape Town

Which city has mastered quality of life?

Africa/Middle East Briefing: Colonel of truth - Libya

Gaddafi once said: "Libya must destroy in order to rebuild." Slowly, that seems to be happening.

Oceania Briefing: Burial plot - Australia

"Sustainable Sydney 2030" is the first serious overhaul of Sydney's planning future in decades.

Oceania Briefing: Perth control - Australia

Western Australia is redeveloping Perth's waterfront.

Q&A: Campbell Newman - Lord Mayor, Brisbane

Which city has mastered quality of life?

Oceania Briefing: Poly filler - New Zealand

Times were when no one in their right mind chose to live in Invercargill, which hangs off the end of New Zealand's South Island.

Affairs Report: Thinking cities - The world

Alain de Botton, Richard Florida, Jonathan Raban, Ricky Burdett, Roope Mokka and Richard Alston - six leading writers, thinkers and academics give their view on the state of today's cities, and their vision of the urban future.

Business Report: Madrid - Business city

It may lack the financial might of London or Frankfurt, but we have chosen Madrid as our business city because of its emergence as the Iberian city of opportunity, its status as gateway to Latin America, campaign to attract start-ups and its sunny qualit

Business Report: Green light - Minneapolis

The upside to rising fuel prices and a depressed property market is more willingness to embrace Kandiyohi Development Partners' mantra: find a better way.

Business Report: Building brands - The world

Whether it's building a whole city or putting up a modest bungalow, the chances are that quite a few of these companies will be there in the background. It's time you knew your Holcim from your Asahi.

Business Report: Pleasant posting - The world

A posting in an emerging market needn't mean a five-year hardship assignment.

Q&A: City editor - Perm

Soviet planning and modern speculators have left many Russian cities at crisis point.

Culture Report: Berlin - Cultural city

Berlin's unemployment rate is dismal and its once-thriving industry is defunct. But the abandoned warehouses and power stations now provide a home for galleries and studios that are leading the European avant-garde.

Culture Report: Bangkok call-in - Thailand

From putting expectant mothers in touch with midwives to finding you a snake-catcher, Bangkok's 'quality of life' radio station RDCK provides a lifeline in a city where public services are haphazard at best.

Culture Report: Design principal - Rhode Island

The leafy Rhode Island School of Design, a global leader in arts education, is buzzing about its new president.

Culture Report: Summer hit wave - Global

Monocle's summer catalogue of culture aims to arm even the most outdoorsy with enough books and records, cinematic suggestions and art events to make you pray for rain. Almost.

Design Report: Copenhagen - Design city

Denmark's capital is, put simply, designed for life.

Design Briefing: Road show - Chile

Santiago-based architect Emilio Marin's "Paseo Altamirano" has turned a stretch of coastal highway into a geometric lookout point.

Q&A: Isay Weinfeld

Isay Weinfeld - Architect, São Paulo.

Q&A: Koji Onishi

Founder of menswear store Strato in Osaka, Japan.

Design Briefing: Carried away - Portland has bags going for it

It may have just missed out on our Top 20, but Portland should console itself with the fact it's home to Entermodal.

Design Briefing: Head over heels

These shoes are made from one piece of seamless leather.

Design Briefing: Light touch - Sweden

Finnish architect Vesa Honkonen has transformed a dull-looking plaza in the waterfront Nacka Strand district of Stockholm.

Design Briefing: A lot of bottle - Finland

After 75 years, Finland's state-owned Alko drinks chain was in need of a makeover.

Design Briefing: Builders' T - Finally, a polo to match your kitchen

Tailored blazers or structured shirts maybe, but T-shirts are the last things you would expect two architects to be designing in their first fashion foray.

Design Briefing: Verbal remedy - Jewellery's pop artist

Verbal, the frontman of m-flo, one of Japan's biggest hip-hop crews, has launched his new jewellery line, called Ambush.

Design Briefing: The magic number

Anatomica and 35 Summers have a hit on their hands.

Design Report: Living large - Paris & New York

In Monocle's dream residential building, we would include the features and proportions of 19th-century Parisian flats and early 20th-century New York apartments.

Design Report: Curated community - Ideal world

Last year we engineered the perfect neighbourhood. This year, we've come up with a better borough.

Design Report: Legally briefed - Turin

Encounters with Italian law are frequently less than elegant, but one northern notary's offices present a very civil partnership between clean modernity and solemn tradition.

Fashion: Stockists, issue 15

Stockist details for issue 15.