Portal:Cities

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A city is a human settlement of a notable size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agreed definition of the lower boundary for their size. In a narrower sense, a city can be defined as a permanent and densely populated place with administratively defined boundaries whose members work primarily on non-agricultural tasks. Cities generally have extensive systems for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, production of goods, and communication. Their density facilitates interaction between people, government organizations, and businesses, sometimes benefiting different parties in the process, such as improving the efficiency of goods and service distribution.

Historically, city dwellers have been a small proportion of humanity overall, but following two centuries of unprecedented and rapid urbanization, more than half of the world population now lives in cities, which has had profound consequences for global sustainability. Present-day cities usually form the core of larger metropolitan areas and urban areas—creating numerous commuters traveling toward city centres for employment, entertainment, and education. However, in a world of intensifying globalization, all cities are to varying degrees also connected globally beyond these regions. This increased influence means that cities also have significant influences on global issues, such as sustainable development, climate change, and global health. Because of these major influences on global issues, the international community has prioritized investment in sustainable cities through Sustainable Development Goal 11. Due to the efficiency of transportation and the smaller land consumption, dense cities hold the potential to have a smaller ecological footprint per inhabitant than more sparsely populated areas. Therefore, compact cities are often referred to as a crucial element in fighting climate change. However, this concentration can also have some significant negative consequences, such as forming urban heat islands, concentrating pollution, and stressing water supplies and other resources. (Full article...)

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Skyline of Seoul at night

Seoul, officially Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Capital Area, encompassing Gyeonggi province and Incheon Metropolitan City, emerged as the world's sixth largest metropolitan economy in 2022, trailing behind Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and New York, and hosts more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at slightly over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at approximately 9.97 million residents as of 2020. Seoul is the seat of the South Korean government.

Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC when it was founded by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. During the Joseon dynasty, Seoul was officially designated as the capital, surrounded by the Fortress Wall of Seoul. In the early 20th century, Seoul was occupied by the Japanese Empire, temporarily renamed "Gyeongseong." The Korean War brought fierce battles, with Seoul changing hands four times and leaving the city mostly in ruins. Nevertheless, the city has since undergone significant reconstruction and rapid urbanization. (Full article...)

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... that Ukrainian parties obtained only a fifth of the votes in the 1917 Kiev City Duma election?
... that the Twin Parks housing project in New York City, the site of a January 2022 fire that killed seventeen people, won architectural awards after it was constructed in the early 1970s?
... that the Scott Tower was built in 1940 as part of a project to create Holyoke, Massachusetts' "own version of New York City's Central Park"?
... that a Kansas City TV station had so many children's shows to air that the station manager talked of "fit[ting] so many ten-pound turnips into a five-pound sack"?
... that when part of New York City's Hotel Riverview became a theater, some people thought that the hotel's overflowing toilets and leaky ceilings were part of the show there?
... that in the 1920s, a guard was posted outside the New York City Subway's Clark Street station to prevent sailors from using it at night?

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Downtown Albany skyline from Rensselaer

Albany (/ˈɔːlbəni/ ^ⓘ AWL-bə-nee) is the capital and oldest city in the U.S. state of New York, and the seat of and most populous city in Albany County. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 10 miles (16 km) south of its confluence with the Mohawk River.

The city is the economic and cultural core of New York State's Capital District, a metropolitan area including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With an estimated population of 1.1 million in 2013, the Capital District is the third most populous metropolitan region in the state. As of 2023, Albany's population was 101,228. (Full article...)

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City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of cities. As of 22 November 2022^[update], there are 76 cities in the United Kingdom—55 in England, seven in Wales, eight in Scotland, and six in Northern Ireland. Although it carries no special rights, the status of city can be a marker of prestige and confer local pride.

The status does not apply automatically on the basis of any particular criterion, though until 1889 in England and Wales it was limited to towns with diocesan cathedrals. This association between having an Anglican cathedral and being called a city was established in the early 1540s when King Henry VIII founded dioceses (each having a cathedral in the see city) in six English towns and granted them city status by issuing letters patent. A city with a cathedral is often termed a cathedral city. (Full article...)

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Image 1A poster from the EPA entitled "Soak Up the Rain with Green Infrastructure." The poster depicts various green infrastructure that can be effective in preventing floods. (from Urban geography)
Image 2The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan originates with the Pyramid of the Moon, forming the basis of the city grid. (from History of cities)
Image 3Glasgow slum in 1871 (from History of cities)
Image 4Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities)
Image 5Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities)
Image 6View of the Agora of Athens with the temple of Hephaestus to the left and the Stoa of Attalos to the right (from History of cities)
Image 7Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities)
Image 8Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities)
Image 9Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (from History of cities)
Image 10The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure)
Image 11The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities)
Image 12Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities)
Image 13A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography)
Image 14The "Great Colonnade" marks the cardo maximus of Apamea, Syria. (from History of cities)
Image 15New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
Image 16Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities)
Image 17Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities)
Image 18This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities)
Image 19Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities)

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v t e Cities
Urban geography	Urban area City centre Downtown Suburb Core city Twin cities Satellite city Edge city Commuter town City proper limits Conurbation Metropolitan area Metropolis Megalopolis Cities with the most skyscrapers Urbanization Suburbanization Shrinking cities Ghost town
Urban government	City status Municipality direct-controlled Independent city City-state Autonomous city Capital city
Urban economics	World's cities by GDP Global city Central business district Most expensive cities Cheapest cities Most livable cities Urban decay Urban renewal Municipal bond Habitat III
Urban planning	History of urban planning Theories of urban planning Technical aspects of urban planning Urban planners Zoning Mixed-use development Urban design Grid plan Concentric zone model Sector model Multiple nuclei model Linear city Land use Smart city
Urban population	World's largest cities throughout history Most densely populated cities Most populous national capitals Most populous satellite cities
Urbanism	Urban warfare Urban studies Urban morphology Urban culture Urban sociology Anti-urbanism Urban exploration Urban homesteading Unitary urbanism
Environment	Climate change Green urbanism Sustainable city Sustainable urbanism Sustainable Development Goal 11 Urban heat island Urban ecology

v t e World's largest cities
City proper	Capitals Americas (North Latin Central South) Asia (Arab world ASEAN Arabia East, South and Southeast Asia) Europe (European Union Nordic)
Metropolitan area	Americas (North South West Indies) Europe (European Union Nordic) Asia Africa Middle East
Urban area/agglomeration	Asia Africa Europe European Union Nordic North America Oceania Transborder
Historical	World Europe
Related articles	Arcology Ecumenopolis Global city Megacity Megalopolis Conurbation Satellite city population Primate city Secondary city