How It Works
A global magazine about cities, systems, and why some places function better than others.
Part essay, part reporting, part lived experience.
Most writing about cities, work, or life abroad assumes one of two things:
Either
You need instructions
or
You need reassurance.
This newsletter is for people who need neither.
It’s for people interested in how places actually function—on the street, in neighborhoods, and inside the systems that shape daily life.
I write about:
• cities and urban planning
• how public space affects everyday experience
• why some places feel alive while others feel hostile
• the policies and design choices hiding in plain sight
Sometimes that means writing about Spain. Sometimes the United States. Often the comparison between them.
Paid subscriptions support deeper work—longer essays, interviews, and reporting about cities, infrastructure, and the built environment.
How It Works is written from the ground, while the experience is still unfolding.
Founded and written by Rocco Pendola, a journalist and essayist based in Valencia, Spain, who has been using em dashes since 2005.
