cities
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Can Guadalajara become a model for transparency?A new breed of anti-corruption politicians, civil society groups and entrepreneurs are beginning to push back against graft in Mexico’s second city
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The best music videos about city life – from U2 to BeyoncéFrom the streets of Los Angeles to the beaches of Rio, here’s our pick of the most memorable videos depicting urban life in cities around the world -
How an open data blogger proved the NYPD issued parking tickets in errorWhen Ben Wellington crunched freely available parking data for New York City, he uncovered thousands of tickets issued to vehicles that were legally parked. Max Galka reports on this and other revealing uses of data in our cities -
'The forces at work here are brutal'Colombian sculptor Doris Salcedo takes us on a tour of Bogotá and her studio
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Soho's last stand? Inside the battle to keep Berwick Street market independentCritics fear Westminster council’s plan to privatise this historic London market risks not only the livelihoods of stallholders but Soho’s distinctive identity
the big picture
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South Africa's apartheid legacy photographed by droneJohnny Miller used a drone to take aerial photographs of the gulf in living conditions for the poor and the wealthy in South Africa
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Abandoned train station signals community revival in SingaporeWith its efficient urban planning, Singapore has long had a highly regulated approach to public space. Can community-focused projects like the redevelopment of the abandoned Tanjong Pagar station enliven the city-state?
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'Get yourself a bike, perico!': how cycling is challenging Santiago's social barriersCycling is now shedding its ‘loser’ image in the Chilean capital, and bikes are enjoying a renaissance. This movement around the city has, in part, brought greater social mobility, and is bridging long-term class segregation
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Rio Olympics: who are the real winners and losers?Special report: With just weeks to go until the start of the Games is it possible to assess exactly how this city of more than 6 million has really been impacted – for good and bad – by the awarding of the Olympics? Jonathan Watts and Bruce Douglas visit five key sections of the city to assess the event’s likely legacy, and hear tales of corruption, hope and claims of thousands of families displaced
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Transforming a motorcycle city: the long wait for Hanoi's metroVietnam’s first metro system continues to be delayed, but in a city with more motorbikes than households – and whose love affair with the car is only increasing – the real obstacle may be shifting public attitudes
in depth
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Welcome to the new Toronto: the most fascinatingly boring city in the worldFrom the endless scandals of Rob Ford to the endless hits of Drake, Stephen Marche reveals the secret of his hometown’s transformation into the 21st century’s great post-industrial city
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get involved
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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
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'It's Prozac in city form': Canadians on the issues facing their citiesThroughout Guardian Canada week, current and former residents shared their perspectives on life in Canadian cities, from street hockey and multiculturalism to the challenges of urban sprawl and unaffordable housing
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Your pictures of incongruous city buildingsNew developments, and the historic buildings they dwarf, can look out of place as the cityscape evolves. Our readers shared their pictures of the conflict between old and new in cities around the world – from Aberdeen to Zagreb
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Your tales of urban lonelinessA new report suggests life in big cities can make people feel more lonely. We asked you to share your stories, and heard experiences of both alienation and connection from Berlin to Vancouver
in pictures
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Creative crosswalks around the worldWhether for safety, art or celebration, pedestrian crossings in cities around the world have been transformed with colourful or unusual designs – from rainbows and piano keyboards to french fries and bullets
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No vacancies: life in Mozambique's abandoned Grande HotelWhen it opened in 1955, the Grande Hotel in the Indian Ocean city of Beira was one of the most luxurious in Africa. Photojournalist Fellipe Abreu documents the lives of the 3,500 people who now fill this long-closed hotel to capacity
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Inside London's graffiti scenePhotographer Marc Vallée spent a year documenting a graffiti crew, exploring the tension between public and private space in London
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America's longest strike: the last gasp of Brooklyn's Domino Sugar FactoryFor 148 years the factory employed thousands of immigrants. When Williamsburg began to transform, as Lucio Zago tells in his forthcoming graphic novel Williamsburg Shorts, the workers weren’t going down without a fight
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Playgrounds for the elderlyCities around the world have been designing outdoor gyms and play areas for older generations to improve fitness and wellbeing. Even non-specialist playgrounds are getting multi-generational. Play’s not just for kids...
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The heritage of London's brutalist architectureA new project by photographer Rory Gardiner and studio esinam highlights the subtle beauties hidden beneath the hard surface of London’s oft-maligned brutalist buildings, from the Barbican to the National Theatre
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
The future of Gaza From city under siege to world tourism hub?