Portal:Cities

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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 numerical boundary for their size. In a more specific 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 had 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...)

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Giza water front

Giza is the third-largest city in Egypt by area and population, and is also the eighteenth-largest city in Africa by population. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 4,458,135 as of 2023. It is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite central Cairo, and is a part of the Greater Cairo metropolis. Giza lies less than 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Memphis (Men-nefer, today the village of Mit Rahina), which was the capital city of the unified Egyptian state during the reign of pharaoh Narmer, roughly 3100 BC.

Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau, the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, among which are the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples, and the Grand Egyptian Museum. Giza has always been a focal point in Egypt's history due to its location close to Memphis, the ancient Egyptian capital of the Old Kingdom. (Full article...)

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... that Mary Sheffield is the youngest elected member and the youngest president in the Detroit City Council's history?
... that 9 to 5 actor Dabney Coleman flew to New York City to pursue acting the day after an actor stopped by for a drink?
... that the book A City on Mars covers sex in space, raising children in low gravity, space law, and space cannibalism?
... that Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst (How Deserted Lies the City), a motet composed by Rudolf Mauersberger after the bombing of Dresden, was first performed in the destroyed Kreuzkirche?
... that Gracie Mansion became New York City's mayoral residence after serving as a public toilet and a museum?
... that a former Dutch villa houses both the city council of Semarang, Indonesia, and the city's mayor?

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

Aerial view of Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene (/ˌkɔːr dəˈleɪn/ ^ⓘ KOR də-LAYN) is a city in and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho with a population of 54,628 at the 2020 census, and now an estimated 58,555 as of 2026. Coeur d'Alene is currently growing at a rate of 1.04% annually and its population has increased by 6.55% since the most recent census, while the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan statistical area has an estimated 188,000 people. Coeur d'Alene is located about 30 miles (50 km) east of Spokane, Washington, with which it forms the bi-state Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area. The city is situated on the north shore of the 25-mile (40 km) long Lake Coeur d'Alene and to the west of the Coeur d'Alene Mountains. Locally, Coeur d'Alene is known as the "Lake City", or simply called by its initials, "CDA" or "CD'A".

The city is named after the Coeur d'Alene people, a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live along the rivers and lakes of the region, in a territory of 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km²) from eastern Washington to Montana. Historically, the native peoples were hunter-gatherers who located their villages and camps near food gathering or processing sites and followed the seasonal cycles, practicing subsistence hunting, fishing, and foraging. (Full article...)

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A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories; which share industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructure and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. (Full article...)

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

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