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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Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth. It is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with the majority of Perth's metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which its central business district and port of Fremantle are situated.
Perth was founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. The city is situated on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years. Perth was named after the city of Perth in Scotland. Perth was proclaimed as a city by Queen Victoria in 1856, although the City of Perth currently governs only a small area around the central business district. Substantial population growth occurred during the late 19th-century Western Australian gold rushes, and the city has continued to expand, particularly after World War II due to a high net migration rate. Post-war immigrants were predominantly from the British Isles and Southern Europe, while more recent arrivals see a growing population of Asian descent. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a series of mining booms in various regions of Western Australia propelled Perth into the role of the regional headquarters for significant mining operations. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that when Westminster City Council in London agreed to use "global majority" as a more inclusive term than BAME or "ethnic minority", a Conservative MP called it "deeply sinister"?
- ... that until the opening of Altay railway station in June 2017, no railway services were provided to Altay City, a tourist attraction with rich mineral resources?
- ... that unlike other armories in New York City, the 69th Regiment Armory was designed in the Beaux-Arts style because its architect did not want it to look like a "mediaeval castle"?
- ... that The Sims 4 by Maxis started as an online multiplayer game, but was transitioned to a single-player experience following the negative launch reception of SimCity in 2013?
- ... that the Cartier Building in New York City was purchased in exchange for $100 and a necklace?
- ... that the Sofia, a condominium building in New York City, was originally a parking garage?
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Bath (RP: /bɑːθ/; local pronunciation: [ba(ː)θ]) is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Bristol. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset.
The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") c. 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although hot springs were known even before then. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs, and Bath became popular as a spa town in the Georgian era. Georgian architecture, crafted from Bath stone, includes the Royal Crescent, Circus, Pump Room, and the Assembly Rooms, where Beau Nash presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761. (Full article...)Selected article -
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses, dense multi family apartments, office buildings and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. Most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of the revenue, although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates.
In Europe, the term peri-urbanisation is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena, but the term urban sprawl is currently being used by the European Environment Agency. There is widespread disagreement about what constitutes sprawl and how to quantify it. For example, some commentators measure sprawl by residential density, using the average number of residential units per acre in a given area. Others associate it with decentralization (spread of population without a well-defined centre), discontinuity (leapfrogging development, as defined below), segregation of uses, and so forth. (Full article...)General images -
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Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities) -
Cain founding the city of Enoch (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) -
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) -
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) -
Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities) -
Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities) -
Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th 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) -
This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities) -
Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities) -
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Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities) -
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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) -
Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities) -
New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
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