Portal:Cities
The Cities Portal
In general, cities are substantially large human settlements. 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...)
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Milwaukee (/mɪlˈwɔːki/ mil-WAW-kee) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is the 31st-most populous city in the United States and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest. It is the central city of the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the 40th-most populous metro area in the U.S. with 1.57 million residents.
Milwaukee is an ethnically and culturally diverse city. However, it continues to be one of the most racially segregated cities, largely as a result of early-20th-century redlining. Its history was heavily influenced by German immigrants in the 19th century, and it continues to be a center for German-American culture, specifically becoming well known for its brewing industry. In recent years, Milwaukee has undergone several development projects, some of which have added to the city's skyline. In 2024 Architectural Digest, a prominent design publication, rated Milwaukee’s skyline as the 15th most beautiful skyline in the world. Major additions to the city since the turn of the 21st century include the Wisconsin Center, American Family Field, The Hop streetcar system, an expansion to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Bradley Symphony Center, and Discovery World, as well as major renovations to the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena. Fiserv Forum opened in late 2018, and hosts sporting events and concerts. (Full article...)Did you know -
- ... that the Engineers' Club Building and Engineering Societies' Building in New York City were described in the mid-20th century as "the engineering crossroads of the world"?
- ... that actress Agnes Mapes had to improvise a complex choreographed dance from basic poses for the 1907 play The Holy City?
- ... 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 none of the six then-living CCNY players were interviewed for the 1998 documentary film City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal?
- ... that Sigismund Mohr lit the first electric street lamps in Quebec City to a crowd of 20,000 spectators?
- ... that women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony spoke twice at the now defunct Academy of Music in Sioux City, Iowa, during the 1870s?
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Tell Brak (Nagar, Nawar) was an ancient city in Syria; its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city's original name is unknown. During the second half of the third millennium BC, the city was known as Nagar and later on, Nawar.
Starting as a small settlement in the seventh millennium BC, Tell Brak evolved during the fourth millennium BC into one of the biggest cities in Upper Mesopotamia, and interacted with the cultures of southern Mesopotamia. The city shrank in size at the beginning of the third millennium BC with the end of Uruk period, before expanding again around c. 2600 BC, when it became known as Nagar, and was the capital of a regional kingdom that controlled the Khabur river valley. Nagar was destroyed around c. 2300 BC, and came under the rule of the Akkadian Empire, followed by a period of independence as a Hurrian city-state, before contracting at the beginning of the second millennium BC. Nagar prospered again by the 19th century BC, and came under the rule of different regional powers. In c. 1500 BC, Tell Brak was a center of Mitanni before being destroyed by Assyria c. 1300 BC. The city never regained its former importance, remaining as a small settlement, and abandoned at some points of its history, until disappearing from records during the early Abbasid era. (Full article...)Selected article -
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, municipal police departments in the United States.
The NYPD is headquartered at 1 Police Plaza, located on Park Row in Lower Manhattan near City Hall. The NYPD's regulations are compiled in title 38 of the New York City Rules. Dedicated units of the NYPD include the Emergency Service Unit, K-9, harbor patrol, highway patrol, air support, bomb squad, counterterrorism, criminal intelligence, anti-organized crime, narcotics, mounted patrol, public transportation, and public housing units. (Full article...)General images -
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Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities) -
A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography) -
Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities) -
Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities) -
New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography) -
Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (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) -
Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities) -
Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (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) -
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) -
Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities) -
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Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (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) -
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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)
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