cities
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In his latest round-up of urban data visualisations, Max Galka reduces English and Welsh commuters to animated dots, reimagines New York as a video game, and explores Lisbon with the ‘graffiti grannies’
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Researchers in Melbourne have used new eye-tracking technology to demonstrate that our brains prefer lush greenery in urban environments. But here they warn that collection of such data could prove a double-edged sword
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From London when it had only one bridge, to a pictorial rendition of Sir Francis Drake’s invasion of Santo Domingo, these global city maps date back to the 1500s
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If Ukraine’s Maidan revolution has largely not led to the transparent government its proponents envisioned, it has certainly democratised Ukrainian culture. The country’s capital, Kiev, is at the forefront of a powerful new wave of creativity
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In an era when people are flooding to cities in record numbers, more people are looking to find ‘home’ in places where they didn’t grow up. So how do you know when you’ve made it?
the big picture
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Ken Grant was born in Liverpool in 1967, and has been photographing it since he was a teenager. His new book, A Topical Times for these Times, offers a unique perspective of his home city through the focus of football
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‘Philanthropy lab’ People’s Liberty is funding individuals with smart ideas to benefit Cincinnati, in the hope of finding a new generation of local civic leaders
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Oklahoma is one of the most food insecure states in the US, where families struggle to buy enough healthy food. Locals are trying to ease poverty with community farming, but face difficulty in a city with a complex racial history
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The Shanghai Tower is another in a long list of ambitious skyscrapers competing fiercely for sustainability credentials as well as height. But how ‘green’ are these buildings – and is environmentalism really the motivation?
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Cars restricted to 5mph over 60 blocks of Financial District at weekend, as transport department runs Shared Streets event inspired by Bogotá and Paris
in depth
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Justin Marozzi tells the story of this once-mighty city in Iraq – a microcosm of human history. Besieged by wars and weather, ‘restored’ by Saddam Hussein, what has become of mystical Babylon?
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get involved
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As reports show that walking reduces stress, anxiety and depression, we asked readers for their stories of the joys of city wanders, from Glasgow to Damascus
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From 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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Throughout 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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New 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
in pictures
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These photographs showing the construction of landmark London buildings and infrastructure projects are taken from Collage: The London Picture Archive
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Peter Mitchell worked as a truck driver in Leeds in the 1970s, photographing the city during his rounds. These fascinating portraits of factories and small shop owners in Yorkshire and London are found on his website Strangely Familiar
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The Big Apple’s early 20th-century building boom transformed the city with skyscrapers, subways and an awful lot of cement – as documented in these photographs from the New York Public Library’s archives
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Yangon has some of the least public space of any major city – but new efforts to open up Myanmar have seen the creation of projects like this one: the country’s first international-standard skatepark
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Whether 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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When 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
popular
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10
Havana: one of the world's great cities on the brink of a fraught transition
This article is 1 year old
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