You spoke, we heard. Welcome to the newly revamped version of Nairobi’s Urban Perspective, UP—now in good ‘ole fashioned news print. Going by comments, ideas and suggestions we have received from our readers and advertisers requesting easier access, higher frequency and affordable costs (among others), it was a no-brainer to move UP to a free circulation model.

By getting into the hands of 20,000+ readers a month, the promise behind UP — to be a journal of ‘urban positive’ thinking — will be more fully realized. As previously apotheosized in these pages last year, we aim to be a voice for the rising urban class in Kenya—be that Nairobi or Kisumu or Mombasa. The urban class caries the flame of cool for it’s city. It puts the ‘C’ in culture. It makes the city fun and interesting and bursting at the seems with commerce and art and language and music. This is your newspaper, speaking with a voice that seeks to lift ‘up’ our own attitudes about where we live and how we mix-in and relate to the multi-national vibe that permeates our social milieu. Let’s celebrate what makes us eccentric.

Though our paper stock has changed our mission stays the same: create an on-going discussion around what makes Nairobi cool: its happenings, its art, culture, fashion, its business and its language of design—a unique Urban Perspective on the Nairobi way of life. Mind you, we won’t ignore our issues, because we definitely have them. In this issue alone we tackle street corruption, unchecked development and the environmental menace of plastic bags. But we are also saying we live in a city that is vibrant, cosmopolitan, intellectually engaging and internationally important. We say we live in a city that is globally cool. And we’re here to shout it from the rooftops.