Portal:Cities

The Cities Portal

P:CITYP:CITY

A city is a human settlement of a substantial 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 harmful effects, such as forming urban heat islands, concentrating pollution, and stressing water supplies and other resources. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected city - show another

Skyline of Durban

Durban (/ˈdɜːrbən/ DUR-bən; Zulu: eThekwini, from itheku meaning 'bay, lagoon') is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean, Durban is the busiest port city in sub-Saharan Africa and was formerly named Port Natal. North of the harbour and city centre lies the mouth of the Umgeni River; the flat city centre rises to the hills of the Berea on the west; and to the south, running along the coast, is the Bluff. (Full article...)

More information List of selected cities ...

List of selected cities

Close

Did you know - Show different entries

... that the owner of Contramar opened it in Mexico City to recreate the experience of dining in a beachside palapa?
... that the Salem Methodist Church in Harlem operated a boxing club in its basement?
... that the Chambers Street station was once called "easily one of the most decrepit stations" in the New York City Subway system?
... that New York City's Valencia Theatre was sold to a church in 1977 for $1?
... that the socialite Lucy Drexel Dahlgren's New York City house was designed by a neighbor whom Dahlgren met in Paris?
... that La La Land's composer initially wanted "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" to be the film's "award song" instead of "City of Stars"?

Related portals

Related WikiProjects

Recognized content - show another

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

Manila skyline viewed from Intramuros

Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 1,902,590 people. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is classified as a highly urbanized city. With 44,935 inhabitants per square kilometer (116,380/sq mi), Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities proper.^[1]

Manila was the first chartered city in the country, designated by Philippine Commission Act No. 183 on July 31, 1901. It became autonomous with the passage of Republic Act No. 409, "The Revised Charter of the City of Manila", on June 18, 1949. Manila is considered to be part of the world's original set of global cities because its commercial networks were the first to extend across the Pacific Ocean and connect Asia with the Spanish Americas through the galleon trade. This marked the first time an uninterrupted chain of trade routes circling the planet had been established. (Full article...)

More information List of Recognized articles ...

List of Recognized articles

Close

Selected article - show another

Towns and cities have a long history, although opinions vary on which ancient settlements are truly cities. Historically, the benefits of dense, permanent settlement were numerous, but required prohibitive amounts of food and labor to maintain. Ancient cities allowed for the pooling of resources, exchange of ideas, large marketplaces, and even some shared amenities such as drinking water, sewerage, law enforcement, and roads. The first cities formed and grew once these benefits of proximity between people exceeded the cost of work required to maintain a settlement. Various technologies such as bricks, pottery, and animal taming played a large role in the costs and benefits of maintaining the earliest forms of cities. Cities were first made possible by advances in technology. (Full article...)

More information List of selected articles ...

List of selected articles

Close

General images - load new batch

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