Portal:Cities

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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...)

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Panoramic view of Podgorica

Podgorica (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Подгорица; lit. 'Under the Hill') is the capital and largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Historically, it was Podgorica's position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and at the meeting-point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley that encouraged settlement. The surrounding landscape is predominantly mountainous terrain.

After World War II, Podgorica was first designated as the capital of Montenegro in 1946. At that time, it was renamed Titograd in honor of Josip Broz Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia. It served as the capital of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until Montenegro's declaration of independence in 2006, after which it was reaffirmed as the capital of an independent Montenegro. The city's original name, Podgorica, had been restored in 1992 following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. (Full article...)

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... that The Onion said in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that "the federal judiciary is staffed entirely by total Latin dorks"?
... that the New York City government sought to demolish a wall around the Isaac L. Rice Mansion for five years?
... that the parked vehicle of one candidate in a 2024 Mexico City borough election was shot five times to "give her a scare"?
... that as of 2017, New York City was spending $500,000 per year on bus tickets and airfare for homeless people to leave New York?
... that at 23, Roman Mejia reached the rank of principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, where his father had also danced?
... that after the Great Savannah Fire of 1820, the city government rejected a donation from New York City because it was stipulated that the funds be allocated "without distinction of color"?

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Ruins of Mari

Mari (Cuneiform: 𒈠𒌷𒆠, ma-ri^ki, modern Tell Hariri; Arabic: تل حريري) was an ancient Semitic city-state in modern-day Syria. Its remains form a tell 11 kilometers north-west of Abu Kamal on the Euphrates River western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. The city was built in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes between Sumer in the south and the Eblaite kingdom and the Levant in the west.

Mari was first abandoned in the middle of the 26th century BC but was rebuilt and became the capital of a hegemonic East Semitic state before 2500 BC. This second Mari engaged in a long war with its rival Ebla and is known for its strong affinity with Sumerian culture. It was destroyed in the 23rd century BC by the Akkadians, who allowed the city to be rebuilt and appointed a military governor (Shakkanakku). The governors became independent with the disintegration of the Akkadian Empire, and rebuilt the city as a regional center of the Euphrates valley. The Shakkanakkus ruled Mari until the second half of the 19th century BC, when the dynasty collapsed for unknown reasons. A short time later, Mari became the capital of the Amorite Lim dynasty. The Amorite Mari lasted only a short time before it was destroyed by Babylonia in c. 1761 BC, but it survived as a small settlement under the rule of the Babylonians and the Assyrians before being abandoned and forgotten during the Hellenistic period. (Full article...)

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A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people "on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or forgotten by society. A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by impoverished individuals and also people who are addicted to drugs. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens, as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, the phrase may indicate the state of a poor person's life.

The term skid road originally referred to the path along which timber workers skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest. Areas in the United States and Canada identified by this nickname include Pioneer Square in Seattle; Old Town Chinatown in Portland, Oregon; Downtown Eastside in Vancouver; Skid Row in Los Angeles; the Tenderloin District of San Francisco; and the Bowery of Lower Manhattan. The term Poverty Flats is used for some Western US towns. (Full article...)

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Image 1View 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 2Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities)
Image 3Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities)
Image 4Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities)
Image 5The 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 6The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities)
Image 7A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography)
Image 8A 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 9Glasgow slum in 1871 (from History of cities)
Image 10This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities)
Image 11Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities)
Image 12Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization of ancient India (from History of cities)
Image 13Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley Civilization (from History of cities)
Image 14The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure)
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 16The "Great Colonnade" marks the cardo maximus of Apamea, Syria. (from History of cities)
Image 17Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities)
Image 18New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
Image 19Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (from History of cities)

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