Portal:Cities
The Cities Portal
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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Luanda (/luˈændə, -ˈɑːn-/, Portuguese: [luˈɐ̃dɐ]) is the capital and largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport, and also the capital of the Luanda Province. Luanda and its metropolitan area is the most populous Portuguese-speaking capital city in the world and the most populous Lusophone city outside Brazil, with over 8.3 million inhabitants in 2020 (a third of Angola's population).
Among the oldest colonial cities of Africa, it was founded in January 1576 as São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda by Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais. The city served as the centre of the slave trade to Brazil before its prohibition. At the start of the Angolan Civil War in 1975, most of the white Portuguese left as refugees, principally for Portugal. Luanda's population increased greatly from refugees fleeing the war, but its infrastructure was inadequate to handle the increase. This also caused the exacerbation of slums, or musseques, around Luanda. The city is undergoing a major reconstruction, with many large developments taking place that will alter its cityscape significantly. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that Regine Velasquez, a Filipino singer and actress, was the first Asian artist to stage a solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York City?
- ... that it took almost as long to renovate New York City's Borough Hall station in the 1980s as it did to construct the original subway line?
- ... that a men's soccer team hired Jenna Winebrenner to analyze game film and practice with the squad?
- ... 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"?
- ... that when Charles P. Gross became the chairman of the New York City Board of Transportation, the mayor told him that "if you think war is Hell, then you have something waiting for you on this job"?
- ... that Glen Cove City School District closed the South School in 1966 to remedy alleged de facto segregation in the district?
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Gaza, also called Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip. Prior to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, it was the most populous city in the State of Palestine, with 590,481 inhabitants in 2017.
Inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history. The Philistines made it a part of their pentapolis after the ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Roman Empire, Gaza experienced relative peace and its Mediterranean port flourished. In 635 CE, it became the first city in the Palestine region to be conquered by the Rashidun army and quickly developed into a centre of Islamic law. However, by the time the Crusader states were established in 1099, Gaza was in ruins. In later centuries, Gaza experienced several hardships—from Mongol raids to severe flooding and locust swarms, reducing it to a village by the 16th century, when it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the first half of Ottoman rule, the Ridwan dynasty controlled Gaza and the city went through an age of great commerce and peace. The municipality of Gaza was established in 1893. (Full article...)Selected article -
The municipalities and cities (Serbian: општине и градови, romanized: opštine i gradovi) are the second level administrative subdivisions of Serbia. The country is divided into 145 municipalities (Serbian: opštine, singular: opština; 38 in Southern and Eastern Serbia, 42 in Šumadija and Western Serbia, 37 in Vojvodina and 28 in Kosovo and Metohija) and 29 cities (Serbian Latin: gradovi, singular: grad; 9 in Southern and Eastern Serbia, 10 in Šumadija and Western Serbia, 8 in Vojvodina and one in Kosovo and Metohija), forming the basic level of local government.
Municipalities and cities are the administrative units of Serbia, and they form 29 districts in groups, except the City of Belgrade which is not part of any district. (Full article...)General images -
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Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities) -
Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities) -
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Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (from History of cities) -
New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography) -
Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities) -
Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities) -
The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities) -
This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities) -
A 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) -
A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography) -
Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities) -
The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan originates with the Pyramid of the Moon, forming the basis of the city grid. (from History of cities) -
Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities) -
Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities) -
The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure) -
View 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) -
Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities)
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