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Introducing the New CityLab: Writing the Future of Cities, with Redesigned and Reimagined Site

Nicole Flatow named Editor of CityLab, which has a reimagined website and ambitious business growth strategy.

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CityLab, the urban-focused site of The Atlantic, is today introducing a redesigned and reimagined website to reflect a sharpened editorial mission and ambitious business growth strategy. With this relaunch also comes the announcement of Nicole Flatow as the new editor of CityLab. Flatow joins CityLab in July from The Guardian, where she was U.S. enterprise editor.

The relaunch marks a new chapter for CityLab, which debuted six years ago as a cities-focused spin-off of The Atlantic. In that time, the site has successfully carved a niche as the leading destination for those who lead, live, and work in modern cities. Cities of all sizes are emerging as hotbeds of local action and global innovation, with more people gravitating to urban areas than ever before. Meeting this trend head on, CityLab is creating journalism for the cities of tomorrow and solutions for the people who power them.

The redesign also reflects CityLab’s independence as a business unit under the umbrella of The Atlantic with its own dedicated marketing, sales, and product teams. Under the leadership of  General Manager Rob Bole, Marketing Director Zev Kanter, and Business Development Director Jennifer Da Silva, the new site debuts with only native advertising and high impact custom ad units—a key component of its premiere audience experience and business strategy.

“CityLab has become the go-to source for people who are building the cities of the future, as well as those who want to live there,” said Bob Cohn, president of The Atlantic. “With these improvements to the site and key hires to the team, we look forward to delivering an even better experience to readers and to our marketing partners.”

“Cities are now the engines of innovation, global culture, and our economies,” said Bole. “In order to capitalize on this moment, CityLab has refocused its editorial and revenue strategies on how cities are succeeding in creating solutions to 21st century challenges. I welcome the leadership and experience Nicole is bringing to grow our urban-based solutions journalism and expand our use of data and visual storytelling to report on important urban stories.”

As The Guardian’s U.S. enterprise editor, Flatow helped drive the direction of the site’s presence, oversaw a team of reporters, and developed special projects and interactives. She was previously deputy justice editor and senior editor of ThinkProgress. After earning a law degree in 2008, she applied her legal skills to housing policy reform. Flatow will work closely with CityLab executive editor David Dudley in shaping the daily direction of the site.

The redesigned CityLab reinforces a commitment to visual storytelling through cartography, audio, original artworks and photography and video. Five essential topics now shape the site’s coverage: Design, Transportation, Environment, Equity, and Life. In addition, the following new features are being introduced:

  • Point of View: CityLab will engage prominent contributor voices to share their ideas for what makes cities better, featuring more in-depth longform journalism.

  • Newsletters: CityLab has launched weekly newsletters dedicated to urban living and maps, and will set out to create additional newsletters on a variety of urban-topics.

  • Solutions + Toolkits: The site will emphasize solutions-focused journalism, to empower readers to take action in their own cities. Select articles will include a “Toolbox” of additional information on how readers can take steps toward a solution to any number of issues.

  • Urban Workshops: CityLab is also developing a live events series that will take CityLab’s journalists and experts off the stage and into the community.