Portal:Cities
Wikipedia portal for content related to Cities / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
![]() | Portal maintenance status: (September 2021)
|
The Cities Portal
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Aerial_view_of_central_Erbil%2C_Kurdistan.jpg/640px-Aerial_view_of_central_Erbil%2C_Kurdistan.jpg)
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 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...)
Selected city - show another
Algiers (/ælˈdʒɪərz/ al-JEERZ; Arabic: الجزائر, romanized: al-Jazāʾir) is the capital and largest city of Algeria, located in the north-central part of the country. The city's population at the 2008 census was 2,988,145 and in 2020 was estimated to be around 4,500,000.
Algiers is situated on the west side of the Bay of Algiers, in the Mediterranean Sea. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the Casbah or citadel (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), 122 metres (400 ft) above the sea. The Casbah and the two quays form a triangle. (Full article...)Did you know - Show different entries
- ... that the owner of Grand Central Terminal sued the developer of One Vanderbilt and the New York City government for $1.1 billion over air rights?
- ... that in 1976, William F. Matthews became the first bookbinder to receive the Insignia Award of the City and Guilds of London Institute?
- ... that the building housing the city council of Palembang, Indonesia, was claimed to be the "grandest" of its kind?
- ... that New York City's Roosevelt Island Tramway was placed next to a bridge to prevent collisions with planes?
- ... that Broadway's Imperial Theatre, opened in 1924, was the Shubert family's 50th theater in New York City?
- ... that The Onion said in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that "the federal judiciary is staffed entirely by total Latin dorks"?
Related portals
Related WikiProjects
Recognized content - show another ![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Cscr-featured.png/23px-Cscr-featured.png)
Virginia Beach, officially the City of Virginia Beach, is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Located on the southeastern coast of Virginia, it is the fifth-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic and the 43rd-most populous city in the U.S. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is a principal city in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.
Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists who eventually settled in Jamestown; modern Virginia Beach was established in 1906. It is home to several state parks, protected beaches, and military bases. Virginia Wesleyan University, Regent University, Christian Broadcasting Network, the U.S. headquarters of Stihl, and the Association for Research and Enlightenment are based in Virginia Beach. It also hosts the annual East Coast Surfing Championships and Neptune Festival. (Full article...)Selected article - show another
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC or with that by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC.
The largest cities of the Bronze Age Near East housed several tens of thousands of people. Memphis in the Early Bronze Age, with some 30,000 inhabitants, was the largest city of the time by far. Ebla is estimated to have had a population of 40,000 inhabitants in the Intermediate Bronze age. Ur in the Middle Bronze Age is estimated to have had some 65,000 inhabitants; Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had a population of some 50,000–60,000. Niniveh had some 20,000–30,000, reaching 100,000 only in the Iron Age (around 700 BC). (Full article...)General images - load new batch
- Image 1Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities)
- Image 2Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities)
- Image 3Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities)
- Image 4The 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 5A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography)
- 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 9The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure)
- Image 10New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
- Image 12View 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 13This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities)
- Image 14Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities)
- Image 17Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (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 19Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities)
Topics
List articles
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