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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 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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East Berlin (German: Ost-Berlin; pronounced [ˈɔstbɛʁˌliːn] ^ⓘ) was the partially recognised capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The Western Allied powers did not recognize East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin. For most of its administrative existence, East Berlin was officially known as Berlin, capital of the GDR (German: Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR) by the GDR government. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin. (Full article...)

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... that Joshua George Beard was a member of the first Toronto City Council and the first Toronto School Board of Trustees?
... that the 32-story Bridge Apartments in New York City were built directly above a 12-lane freeway?
... that 280 Broadway, once called the "cradle of the department store", later hosted The Sun newspaper and then the New York City Department of Buildings?
... that The Anxious City introduced a recurring figure in Paul Delvaux's paintings: a man who is ignorant of the pretty women and disasters around him?
... that on March 2, 2022, 86 percent of workers in New York City's REI store voted in favor of the outdoor recreation retailer's first ever trade union, REI Union SoHo?
... that a New York City office building was nicknamed for its resemblance to a lipstick tube?

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From top, left to right: Sunset from Signal Hill, Row Houses, Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the Confederation Building

St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans 446.04 km² (172.22 sq mi) and is the easternmost city in North America (excluding Greenland). The closest European settlement is Fajã Grande, Azores, Portugal, about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away.

Its name has been attributed to the belief that John Cabot sailed into the harbour on the Nativity of John the Baptist in 1497, although it is most likely a legend that came with British settlement. A more realistic possibility is that a fishing village with the same name existed without a permanent settlement for most of the 16th century. Indicated as São João on a Portuguese map from 1519, it is one of the oldest cities in North America. It was officially incorporated as a city in 1888. With a metropolitan population of approximately 239,316 (as of 16 January 2025), the St. John's Metropolitan Area is Canada's 22nd-largest metropolitan area and the second-largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada, after Halifax. (Full article...)

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A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other areas of the city. Versions of such restricted areas have been found across the world, each with their own names, classifications, and groupings of people.

The term was originally used for the Venetian Ghetto in Venice, Italy, as early as 1516, to describe the part of the city where Jewish people were restricted to live and thus segregated from other people. However, other early societies may have formed their own versions of the same structure; words resembling ghetto in meaning appear in Hebrew, Yiddish, Italian, Germanic, Polish, Corsican, Old French, and Latin. During the Holocaust, more than 1,000 Nazi ghettos were established to hold the Jewish populations of Europe, with the goal of exploiting and killing European Jews as part of the Final Solution of Nazi Germany. (Full article...)

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

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v t e Cities
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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
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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