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P:CITY

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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Skyline of São Paulo from Jardins

São Paulo (/ˌsaʊ ˈpaʊloʊ/, Portuguese: [sɐ̃w ˈpawlu] ^ⓘ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil and the capital of the state of São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as an alpha global city, São Paulo is the most populous city outside of Asia and the world's 20th-largest city proper by population. Additionally, São Paulo is the largest Portuguese-speaking city in the world. It exerts strong international influences in commerce, finance, arts, and entertainment. The city's name honors the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus. The city's metropolitan area, the Greater São Paulo, ranks as the most populous in Brazil and the 12th-most-populous on Earth. The process of conurbation between the metropolitan areas around the Greater São Paulo (Campinas, Santos, Jundiaí, Sorocaba and São José dos Campos) created the São Paulo Macrometropolis, a megalopolis with more than 30 million inhabitants, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world.

Having the largest economy by GDP in Latin America, the city is home to the São Paulo Stock Exchange. Paulista Avenue is the economic core of São Paulo. The city has the 23rd largest GDP in the world, representing 10.7% of all Brazilian GDP and 36% of the production of goods and services in the state of São Paulo, being home to 63% of established multinationals in Brazil, and was responsible for 28% of the national scientific production in 2005, as measured by the number of science papers published in journals. (Full article...)

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... that Red Blanchard, the owner of Iowa radio station KSMN, commuted 800 miles (1280 km) by plane from Mason City each week to host a radio show in Chicago?
... that The Anxious City introduced a recurring figure in Paul Delvaux's paintings: a man who is ignorant of the pretty women and disasters around him?
... that the fin de siècle photographer James Reuel Smith rode his bike all over Manhattan and the Bronx to photograph the natural springs and wells of New York City before they disappeared?
... that L. P. Hollander & Company filed for bankruptcy less than two years after moving its New York City store to 3 East 57th Street?
... that 17 State Street, near the southern end of New York City's Manhattan Island, was described as "quite literally a beacon for Lower Manhattan"?
... that Central City College was established as an African American-led alternative to the historically black Atlanta Baptist College?

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View of Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italian pronunciation: [korˈtiːna damˈpɛttso]; Ladin: Anpezo, Ampëz; historical Austrian German: Hayden) is a town and comune in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alpine valley, it is an upscale summer and winter sport resort known for its skiing trails, scenery, accommodation, shops and après-ski scene, and for its jet set and Italian aristocratic crowd.

In the Middle Ages, Ampezzo fell under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1420 it was conquered by the Republic of Venice. From 1508, it then spent much of its history under Habsburg rule, briefly undergoing some territorial changes under Napoleon, before being returned to the Austrian Empire (later Austria-Hungary), which held it until 1918. From the nineteenth century, Cortina d'Ampezzo became a notable regional centre for crafts. The local handmade products were appreciated by early British and German holidaymakers as tourism emerged in the late nineteenth century. Among the specializations of the town were crafting wood for furniture, the production of tiled stoves, and iron, copper and glass items. (Full article...)

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Location of Brussels within Belgium

From 21 to 25 November 2015, the government of Belgium imposed a security lockdown on Brussels, including the closure of shops, schools, public transportation, due to information about potential terrorist attacks in the wake of the series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 13 November. One of the perpetrators of the attack, Belgian-born French national Salah Abdeslam, was thought to be hiding in the city. As a result of warnings of a serious and imminent threat, the terror alert level was raised to the highest level (four) across the Brussels metropolitan area, and people were advised not to congregate publicly, effectively putting the city under lockdown. (Full article...)

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

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v t e Cities
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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
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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