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About this content
About this content
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How cities took over the world: a history of globalisation spanning 4,000 yearsFrom bronze-age Iraq’s market-driven cities to the riches of Antwerp to the tech revolution in India, Greg Clark identifies the many waves of urban globalisation
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Bikes outnumber cars for the first time in CopenhagenDenmark’s capital has reached a milestone in its journey to become a cycling city – there are now more bikes than cars on the streets. Can other cities follow? -
The art of gentrification: city data made beautifulGraphic designer Herwig Scherabon visualises the data behind gentrification using a striking array of different styles. These examples look at the patterns of income inequality and segregation in large cities, from London to LA -
How should cities deal with street begging?From London to Lagos, cities across the world are reacting to the rise in begging with a variety of often controversial measures. But what is the right response to this complicated human story – from cities and residents alike?
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Can video games recreate life in a conflict-ridden city?This War of Mine follows civilians trying to survive in a war-torn city, telling a story that’s become increasingly poignant amid the current refugee crisis
the big picture
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The city's forgotten neighbourhoodsGerman photographer Philipp Ebeling left behind familiar landmarks to travel to the forgotten locations where the city ceases to be the city
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'This city is designed for cars, not people’: residents' voices on JakartaCommutes that cause panic attacks – but the kindness of a village community. Jakarta’s residents tell us what life in the city is really like – and why they have such a love/hate relationship with the Indonesian capital
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Jakarta's eco future? River community goes green to fight eviction threatMore than 250 families are facing eviction from Jakarta’s Tongkol kampung. Their response? To rebuild their homes, clean up their river, and become a model for a more eco-friendly future for the city
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$40M untuk menyelamatkan Jakarta: kisah sang Garuda PerkasaLupakan Venesia. Kota yang paling cepat tenggelam adalah ibukota Indonesia, di beberapa tempat turun 25cm per tahun. Bisakah rencana yang janggal untuk membangun sebuah tanggul raksasa dan kota pinggir laut yang mewah dalam rupa burung Garuda menyelamatkan Jakarta agar tidak tergelam
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The world's worst traffic: can Jakarta find an alternative to the car?Attracted by the air-conditioning and the status, many of the 3.5 million people who commute into the hot and humid Indonesian capital come by car. With four hours in traffic not unusual, Jakarta is searching for solutions
in depth
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The story of the Great GarudaForget Venice. The fastest-sinking city is the Indonesian capital, parts of which are dropping at 25cm a year. Can an outlandish plan for a giant seawall and luxury waterworld city in the shape of a mythical bird save Jakarta from drowning?
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get involved
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Can you identify these world cities from space?Astronauts on the International Space Station took these images of cities at night
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From punk to pop-up: share your memories of Camden MarketSince opening in the 1970s, Camden Market has been both a home for alternative culture and a thriving tourist destination. Share your stories, memories and photos of the market – and how it’s changed – with GuardianWitness
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Urban memories: share your old photos of cities around the worldFrom lost buildings to transformed neighbourhoods, share your pictures and memories of the changing landscapes of cities with GuardianWitness
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Share ideas for what we should cover nextFrom filling billboards to mapping a whole city, readers and their experiences have played a huge role in the development of Guardian Cities. But what stories are we missing, and how can we improve? Share your ideas and suggestions
in pictures
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The biggest city sinkholes around the worldAs a huge crater opened up in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, we take a look at the largest urban sinkholes – from Guangzhou to Guatemala City
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Detroit's custom cycles‘We take rusty old junk and we put love into it.’ The old Motor City has a unique style in bicycles these days: from fat wheels and fake fuel tanks to stretched cycles with powerful sound systems – and even a family-sized BBQ
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These developments look strangely familiarIn his project Familiar, designer Luca Picardi examines existing marketing material for new developments in North Europe – from London to Malmö, Hamburg to Helsinki – to highlight their striking similarities. If you’ve seen one …
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Life in an aircraft graveyardPhotojournalist Lauren DeCicca met three Thai families who have created makeshift homes from abandoned aeroplanes in a vacant lot in east Bangkok
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Behind the scenes in Vatican CityPhotographer Christian Sinibaldi was granted unprecedented access to the corridors of Vatican City. Over several months he gained the trust of those who work there, got to know the city’s inner workings, and captured scenes which are rarely seen by outsiders
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From Tower Bridge to the South BankThese photographs showing the construction of landmark London buildings and infrastructure projects are taken from Collage: The London Picture Archive
you may have missed
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Is Morrissey's city still recognisable?Thirty years on from The Smiths’ only UK No 1 studio album, how do the band’s legendary evocations of 1980s Manchester compare with life in the city today? There’s only one place to start …
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Affordable housing quotas get waived and the interests of residents trampled as toothless authorities bow to the dazzling wealth of investors from Russia, China and the Middle EastThe truth about property developers: how they are exploiting planning authorities and ruining our cities
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Rumble in the Jungle: 40 years on, Kinshasa is a city of chaosThe heavyweight world championship showdown between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman electrified a city full of pride and promise in the early years following independence – and then the money ran out …
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Timbuktu: portrait of a city on the edge of existenceWhat is life like in Mali’s ‘city in the middle of nowhere’? Guardian photographer Sean Smith recently spent a week there, meeting everyone from Timbuktu’s chief muezzin to its only DJ
A tube for cars? Proposal to bury traffic says it's 'next best thing to teleportation'