Cities in the world are both similar and different. All of them are societies of many thousands people living next to each other and doing works that do not directly create food. Cities are both products and power of the civilization. Most of todays achievements, industrial and scientific, are created there. They are hubs for entertainment, infrastructure, education, shopping, tourism. Even rural people regularly visit cities. The life in the cities is more individual and varied.

While similar cities are also greatly different all over the world. Architecture, urbanisation, culture, religion, lifestyles and different ethnic communities form a distinct blend unique to the region.

The first cities have been established in Mesopotamia 3200 BC. For centuries urbal lifestyle was limited to a select minority: nobility and craftsmen. Majority had to grow food to avert famine. Only the largest empires were able to support massive megalopolises (e.g. Rome) using food and water from vast areas around them. All this started to change in 1700s-1800s, when improved agriculture allowed more and more peasants to leave for urban factories. This “Industrial revolution” changed the city life from an exception to a rule. In 19th century already some European nations had a larger population in their cities than villages. In 20th century most American and Asian nations followed suit. At ~2006 there were more people living in cities than villages all over the world.

WorldCityTypesMap

Americas Asia Europe Africa Oceania
United States city Subcontinent city Post-Soviet city North African city Australasian city
Latin American city East Asian city British city Central African city Oceanian city
Chinese city Mediterranean city South African city
Gulf city Nordic city
Southeast Asian city Central European city
Mideastern city
United States city

United States city

American cities are young and constantly changing. There are few old buildings. In flourishing cities a new building is frequently torn down before the generation that saw its construction passed away. Even the most iconic buildings and churches are not saved from wrecking ball if the economy dictates so.

Latin American city

Latin American city

A Latin American city has a historic center dating to the colonial era (16th-18th centuries). It is based on a rectangular layout. One central area is left as a small park. This is called “Plaza de Armas” (Weapons square) as it used to be a refuge for city dwellers under siege.

Post-Soviet city

Post-Soviet city

While Soviet (Socialist) regimes of 1920s-1940s conquered vastly different cities, they have received many similar features since: styleless prefab apartment micro-districts, megalomaniac centers, common urban culture and experiences.

British city

British city

British cities are old and have suffered little war damage. Very old buildings – mainly gothic churches and abbeys – survive in downtowns. In 18th-19th centuries Britain was the world’s most advanced nation and its cities show it.

Nordic city

Nordic city

Nordic cities are small. A settlement of ~30 000 people would be considered a town elsewhere but it could be a regional metropolis in the Nordic countries, with all the necessary amenities including an international airport.

Central European city

Central European city

Central European cities are centered on their neat downtowns, with opulent palaces, magnificient church spires and former gabled merchant homes. In summer the old towns fill with open-air cafes while in the winter they are frequently covered by snow.

Mediterranean city

Mediterranean city

The center of a Mediterranean city is a mish-mash old town of cobbled streets and grand old buildings (Romanesque, Rennaisance, Baroque). Many opulent palaces, cathedrals, monasteries and city halls remind of the medieval times when the city and its local families wielded powerful independence.

North African city

North African city

A North African city is centered on its Medina, a downtown of extremely narrow labyrinthine streets where cars are replaced by motorbikes and donkeys. This is a large marketplace with plain outer facades and separate district for different goods.

Central African city

Central African city

To many a Central African city is an epitomy of poverty, with their endless slums and minuscule wages. Technologies the urban dwellers elsewhere take for granted are often not present in a Central African city.

South African City

South African City

South Africa has a history of a unique political system of apartheid where different races lived in separate areas. While this has been dismantled in the 1990s the South African cities still reflect the past.

Gulf city

Gulf city

The cities at the Gulf have been completely transformed in the recent decades on the oil wealth. Before the oil extraction began ~1970s all of them were small insignificant desert outposts. Since then the population of Gulf cities imploded 10 to 40 times, doubling every decade or so.

Mideastern city

Mideastern city

Northern Middle East has been the birthplace of “city” as such and the region’s cities are among the world’s longest continuously-inhabitted territories. Vast white new neighborhoods thus surround downtowns which are like history books.

Chinese city

Chinese city

Chinese cities are constantly growing with new taller and taller skyscrapers built every month rather than year. The urbanization drive that swept other continents decades ago now reached China. 400 million people moved into cities since 1985, driving the urbanization from 20% to 50%.

East Asian city

East Asian city

In an East Asian city everything seems cramped. The area has extremely high population density (400 people/km2) and much of this scarce land is mountainous. Cities have small strips of coastal land to develop on. Nevertheless they are huge.

Oceanian city

Oceanian city

Stuffed by wide oceans on their little islands and atolls the Oceanian cities are small, with even the capitals rarely surpassing 100 000 in poplation. An Oceanian city is extremely remote by all senses, many hours of flight-time from the nearest metropolis.

Australasian city

Australasian city

Australasian cities are all new. The oldest buildings date to the 19th century but most are far more recent. They are cities of immigrants: most of the inhabittants, their parents or grandparents moved in from countries thousands of kilometers away.