The Briefing Monocle at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. Plus: New York’s first ever sauna festival
Feb 4, 2026
Robert Hammond, co-founder of the High Line and organiser of NYC’s Culture of Bathing Festival, talks urban social infrastructure and sauna culture. Ewan Potts, Bloomberg reporter, covers market moves and software sell-offs plus Novo Nordisk’s forecast. Andrew Tuck, Monocle editor, and Tom Edwards, Monocle radio lead, report on architecture, AI debates and on-the-ground summit scenes. Inzban Rashid adds live color from Dubai.
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Episode notes
Summit Marries Diplomacy With Practical Tech
- The World Government Summit blends high-level diplomacy with practical tech and design conversations.
- Speakers emphasised a human-centred return in debates about AI, architecture and urban futures.
Prioritise Human-Centred Design
- Emphasise human-centric design when discussing architecture and urban planning.
- Blend nature and subtlety into built environments to improve wellbeing, Andrew Tuck advised.
From AI Hype To Human Impact
- Conversations at the summit are shifting from AI hype to human impacts and environmental implications.
- Delegates are asking what AI means in practice for companies, jobs and the planet.
