Portal:Cities
The Cities Portal
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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Jakarta (/dʒəˈkɑːrtə/; Indonesian pronunciation: [dʒaˈkarta] ⓘ, Betawi: Jakartè), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta; DKI Jakarta) and formerly known as Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and an autonomous region at the provincial level. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia and serves as the diplomatic capital of ASEAN. The Special Region has a status equivalent to that of a province and is bordered by two other provinces: West Java to the south and east; and (since 2000, when it was separated from West Java) Banten to the west. Its coastline faces the Java Sea to the north, and it shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. Jakarta's metropolitan area is ASEAN's second largest economy after Singapore. In 2023, the city's GDP PPP was estimated at US$724.010 billion.
Jakarta is the economic, cultural, and political centre of Indonesia. Although Jakarta extends over only 661.23 km2 (255.30 sq mi) and thus has the smallest area of any Indonesian province, its metropolitan area covers 7,076.31 km2 (2,732.18 sq mi), which includes the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, and Bekasi, and has an estimated population of 32.6 million as of 2022[update], making it the largest urban area in Indonesia and the second-largest in the world (after Tokyo). Jakarta ranks first among the Indonesian provinces in the human development index. Jakarta's business and employment opportunities, along with its ability to offer a potentially higher standard of living compared to other parts of the country, have attracted migrants from across the Indonesian archipelago, making it a melting pot of numerous cultures. (Full article...)
Did you know -
- ... that Winchester United Church, a place of worship in the City of Winchester District, Hampshire, was built into the walls of the former county jail?
- ... that Gracie Mansion became New York City's mayoral residence after serving as a public toilet and a museum?
- ... that La La Land's composer initially wanted "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" to be the film's "award song" instead of "City of Stars"?
- ... that a men's soccer team hired Jenna Winebrenner to analyze game film and practice with the squad?
- ... 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 the Summit Hotel, once described by its own architect as the "most hated hotel in New York", was protected as a New York City landmark in 2005?
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Meridian is the eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is 93 mi (150 km) east of Jackson; 154 mi (248 km) southwest of Birmingham, Alabama; 202 mi (325 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana; and 231 mi (372 km) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee.
Established in 1860, at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Southern Railway of Mississippi, Meridian built an economy based on the railways and goods transported on them, and it became a strategic trading center. During the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman burned much of the city to the ground in the Battle of Meridian (February 1864). Rebuilt after the war, the city entered a "Golden Age". It became the largest city in Mississippi between 1890 and 1930, and a leading center for manufacturing in the South, with 44 trains arriving and departing daily. Union Station, built in 1906, is now a multi-modal center, with access to Amtrak and Greyhound Buses averaging 242,360 passengers per year. Although the economy slowed with the decline of the railroad industry, the city has diversified, with healthcare, military, and manufacturing employing the most people in 2010. The population within the city limits, according to 2008 census estimates, is 38,232, but a population of 232,900 in a 45-mile (72 km) radius and 526,500 in a 65-mile (105 km) radius, of which 104,600 and 234,200 people respectively are in the labor force, feeds the economy of the city. (Full article...)
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Towns and cities have a long history, although opinions vary on which ancient settlements are truly cities. Historically, the benefits of dense, permanent settlement were numerous, but required prohibitive amounts of food and labor to maintain. Ancient cities allowed for the pooling of resources, exchange of ideas, large marketplaces, and even some shared amenities such as drinking water, sewerage, law enforcement, and roads. The first cities formed and grew once these benefits of proximity between people exceeded the cost of work required to maintain a settlement. Various technologies such as bricks, pottery, and animal taming played a large role in the costs and benefits of maintaining the earliest forms of cities. Cities were first made possible by advances in technology. (Full article...)
General images -
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This woodcut shows Nuremberg as a prototype of a flourishing and independent city in the 15th century. (from History of cities) -
Palmanova, Italy, constructed in 1593 according to the defensive ideal of the star fort, today retains its distinctive geometry. (from History of cities) -
Extent and major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization of ancient India (from History of cities) -
The Round city of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq (from History of cities) -
A map showing the world energy consumption per capita based on 2013 data from the World Bank. (from Urban geography) -
Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage Site that was part of the Indus Valley Civilization (from History of cities) -
Gdańsk in the 17th 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) -
Aerial photograph shows the remains of the Sumerian city Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. (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) -
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) -
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) -
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) -
Excavated foundations of Çatalhöyük, Turkey. An Anatolian town dated to 7000 BCE. (from History of cities) -
Daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng (from History of cities) -
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