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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 negative consequences, such as forming urban heat islands, concentrating pollution, and stressing water supplies and other resources. (Full article...)

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Downtown Milwaukee

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. 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...)

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... that New York City's Hotel Marseilles, once a shelter for Holocaust survivors, later became affordable housing for the elderly?
... 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 a Kansas City TV station had so many children's shows to air that the station manager talked of "fit[ting] so many ten-pound turnips into a five-pound sack"?
... that the City Hall station, intended to be the showpiece of New York City's subway system, has been closed since 1945?
... that Joshua George Beard was a member of the first Toronto City Council and the first Toronto School Board of Trustees?
... that New York City would not allow a forest in the Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Center?

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

Tell Brak as seen from a distance with several excavation areas visible

Tell Brak (Nagar, Nawar) was an ancient city in Syria; it is one the earliest known cities in the world. 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's urbanization began in the late 5th millennium BCE and 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...)

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An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. This is the core of a metropolitan statistical area in the United States, if it contains a population of more than 50,000.

Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbanism, the term "urban area" contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets; in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. (Full article...)

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Image 1The 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 2This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities)
Image 3Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities)
Image 4A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography)
Image 5Cain founding the city of Enoch (from History of cities)
Image 6Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (from History of cities)
Image 7Gdańsk in the 17th century (from History of cities)
Image 8Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities)
Image 9Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization (from History of cities)
Image 10New York City, one of the largest urban areas in the world (from Urban geography)
Image 11The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities)
Image 12Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley civilization of ancient India (from History of cities)
Image 13View 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 14Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities)
Image 15The city of Arbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has a radial urban structure centred on an ancient fortress (from Urban structure)
Image 16A 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 17Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th through the 12th century (from History of cities)
Image 18The "Great Colonnade" marks the cardo maximus of Apamea, Syria. (from History of cities)
Image 19Glasgow slum in 1871 (from History of cities)

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v t e Cities
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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