Portal:Cities

The Cities Portal

P: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 Santiago, with Sanhattan and Gran Torre Santiago, from San Cristóbal Hill

Santiago (/ˌsæntiˈɑːɡoʊ/, US also /ˌsɑːn-/; Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo]), also known as Santiago de Chile (Spanish: [san̪ˈtja.ɣo ðe ˈtʃi.le] ^ⓘ), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of seven million, representing 40% of Chile's total population. Most of the city is situated between 500–650 m (1,640–2,133 ft) above sea level.

Founded in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, Santiago has served as the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city features a downtown core characterized by 19th-century neoclassical architecture and winding side streets with a mix of Art Deco, Gothic Revival, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is defined by several standalone hills and the fast-flowing Mapocho River, which is lined by parks such as Parque Bicentenario, Parque Forestal, and Parque de la Familia. The Andes Mountains are visible from most parts of the city and contribute to a smog problem, particularly during winter due to the lack of rain. The outskirts of the city are surrounded by vineyards, and Santiago is within an hour's drive of both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean. (Full article...)

List of selected cities

Did you know - Show different entries

... that actress Katharine Hepburn threatened to remove her name from a garden in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza when New York City officials said they would not widen the plaza?
... that one of the longest civil trials in Utah history, with 1,000 exhibits, concerned the purchase of a Salt Lake City TV station?
... that the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in New York City was designed by "the only architects in the city who had not begged for the job"?
... that New York City's Lexington Hotel banned tipping when it opened?
... that floods across New York City in September 2023 allowed a sea lion to escape her enclosure at the Central Park Zoo?
... that New York City's Hotel Marseilles, once a shelter for Holocaust survivors, later became affordable housing for the elderly?

Related portals

Related WikiProjects

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

Clockwise from top left: All Saints Cathedral, Khusro Bagh, the Allahabad High Court, the New Yamuna Bridge near Sangam, the skyline of Civil Lines, the University of Allahabad, Thornhill Mayne Memorial at Chandrashekhar Azad Park and Anand Bhavan

Prayagraj (/ˈpreɪəˌɡrɑːdʒ, ˈpraɪə-/, Hindi: [pɾəjaːɡɾaːdʒ]; ISO: Prayāgarāja), formerly known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Prayagraj district, the most populous district in the state and 13th most populous district in India and the Prayagraj division. The city is the judicial capital of Uttar Pradesh with the Allahabad High Court being the highest judicial body in the state. As of 2011,^[update] Prayagraj is the seventh most populous city in the state, thirteenth in Northern India and thirty-sixth in India, with an estimated population of 1.53 million in the city. In 2011, it was ranked the world's 40th fastest-growing city. The city, in 2016, was also ranked the third most liveable urban agglomeration in the state (after Noida and Lucknow) and sixteenth in the country. Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the city.

Prayagraj lies close to Triveni Sangam, the "three-river confluence" of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati. It plays a central role in Hindu scriptures. The city finds its earliest reference as one of the world's oldest known cities in Hindu texts and has been venerated as the holy city of Prayāga in the ancient Vedas. Prayagraj was also known as Kosambi in the late Vedic period, named by the Kuru rulers of Hastinapur, who developed it as their capital. Known as Purimtal in ancient Jain scriptures, it is also a sacred place for Jains, as their first Tirthankar, Rishabhdeva attained kevalya gyana here. This was one of the greatest cities in India from the late Vedic period until the end of the Maurya Empire, with occupation continuing until the Gupta Empire. Since then, the city has been a political, cultural and administrative centre of the Doab region. (Full article...)

List of Recognized articles

Selected article - show another

The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York: The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.

All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were dissolved. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images - load new batch

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

edit

Topics

List articles

– Lists of cities –

More list articles

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache

v t e Cities
Urban geography	Urban area City centre Downtown Suburb Core city Twin cities Satellite city Edge city Commuter town City proper limits Conurbation Metropolitan area Metropolis Megalopolis Cities with the most skyscrapers Urbanization Suburbanization Shrinking cities Ghost town
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