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 more narrow sense, a city can be defined as a permanent and densely settled 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 significant negative consequences, such as forming urban heat islands, concentrating pollution, and stressing water supplies and other resources. (Full article...)

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Shirvanshah's Palace; Old City; Maiden Tower; Palace of Happiness; evening in Baku; Ismailiyya Palace; Heydar Aliyev Center; National Art Museum of Azerbaijan; Azerbaijan Carpet Museum; Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall; Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre; Nizami Cinema Center; Ateshgah; Church of the Saviour; Heydar Mosque; view over city and Bay of Baku

Baku (US: /bɑːˈkuː, ˈbɑːkuː/, UK: /bæˈkuː, ˈbækuː/; Azerbaijani: Bakı [bɑˈcɯ] ^ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, on the Bay of Baku. Baku's urban population was estimated at two million people as of 2009. Baku is the primate city of Azerbaijan—it is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area.

Baku is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago, as well as the industrial settlement of Neft Daşları built on oil rigs 60 kilometres (37 miles) away from Baku city in the Caspian Sea. The Old City, containing the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower, was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. (Full article...)

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... that more than 150 years of documentary sources at the Central Archives of Gaza City were destroyed during the Israel–Hamas war?
... that Henry Clay Frick would not take World War I as an excuse for delays in the construction of his New York City house?
... that The Sims 4 by Maxis started as an online multiplayer game, but was transitioned to a single-player experience following the negative launch reception of SimCity in 2013?
... that the Chambers Street station was once called "easily one of the most decrepit stations" in the New York City Subway system?
... that the wine cellar of New York City's Barclay Hotel is on the second floor?
... that when the Candler Building opened, it was the tallest building around Times Square?

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

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Amman (UK: /əˈmɑːn/ ə-MAHN, US: /ɑːˈmɑːn/ ah-MAHN; Arabic: عَمَّان, romanized: ʿAmmān, pronounced [ʕaˈmːaːn]) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant region, the fifth-largest city in the Arab world, and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East.

The earliest evidence of settlement in Amman dates to the 8th millennium BC, in a Neolithic site known as 'Ain Ghazal, where the world's oldest statues of the human form have been unearthed. The city was known as Rabat Aman during the second millennium BC and served as the capital of the Ammonite Kingdom, centered at the Amman Citadel. In the 3rd century BC, the city was renamed Philadelphia and made a regional center of Hellenistic culture. Under Roman rule, Philadelphia was one of the ten Greco-Roman cities of the Decapolis. The Rashidun Caliphate conquered the city from the Byzantines in the 7th century AD, and renamed it Amman. Throughout most of the Islamic era, the city alternated between periods of devastation and abandonment and periods of relative prosperity as the center of the Balqa region. Amman was largely abandoned from the 15th century until 1878, when the Ottoman Empire authorities began settling Circassians there. (Full article...)

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A carfree city is an urban area absent of motor vehicles. Carfree cities rely on public transport, walking, and cycling for travel as opposed to motor vehicles. Districts where motor vehicles are prohibited are referred to as carfree zones. Carfree city models have gained traction in the second half of the 20th century due to issues with congestion and infrastructure, and proposed environmental and quality of life benefits. Many cities in Asia, Europe, and Africa have carfree areas due to the cities being created before the invention of motor vehicles, while many developing cities in Asia are using the carfree model to modernize their infrastructure. (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 2Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities)
Image 3Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities)
Image 4Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities)
Image 5A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography)
Image 6New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
Image 7Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities)
Image 8Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities)
Image 9The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure)
Image 10Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities)
Image 11View 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 12This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities)
Image 13Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities)
Image 14The 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 15Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (from History of cities)
Image 16Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities)
Image 17Glasgow slum in 1871 (from History of cities)
Image 18The "Great Colonnade" marks the cardo maximus of Apamea, Syria. (from History of cities)
Image 19The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities)

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v t e Cities
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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