People around the world protest different things. You wouldn’t believe what they are protesting in Macedonia. It’s not government cuts or violence against women; in Skopje, the capital, people are protesting urban beautification. In recent weeks, thousands have formed a human chain, in sub-zero temperatures, to protest planned improvements to a beloved but ugly mall in the heart of the city. The mall, built in the 1970s in a nondescript postwar bunker style, is called the GTC shopping centre, and local officials decided to make it a little more appealing. This is the kind of initiative many urbanists support in principle. Who would oppose government spending on the beautification of urban eyesores? Why oppose spending on historical monuments?