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Innovative and agile cities are better placed to solve major global challenges than national governments – in thrall to the momentum of the last century – but the fight must start now, argues Barcelona’s first female mayor
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The festival of light in Ecuador’s capital took place during the UN’s Habitat III conference this week, illuminating historic buildings in Quito’s centre
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The UN’s New Urban Agenda calls on nations around the world to create safer, more inclusive and sustainable cities – but a group of countries including Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia successfully excluded LGBTQ rights
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As a young man, Marcel Gautherot abandoned his architecture studies in Paris to travel the world as a photographer. He became best known for his documentation of the construction of Brazil’s new capital city, Brasília, which can be found in a collection of his work, The Monograph
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Two billion more people will live in cities by 2035. This could be good – or very bad
Alejandro AravenaCities are like magnets. Without a better model for growth, people will still come – but they will live in awful conditions. This year’s Pritzker prize-winning architect presents his legal, financial and design roadmap to a new urban reality
the big picture
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In 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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Alrededor de 45,000 personas se reúnen en la capital de Ecuador para la Conferencia de la ONU sobre el futuro de las ciudades. Dentro del recinto, los delegados apoyan una mayor inclusión para la mejora de las ciudades, pero en las calles de Quito, los ciudadanos se sienten excluidos
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The former mayor of Barcelona and the Mumbai-based architect PK Das are inaugural international winners of the annual Jane Jacobs medal. Both paid tribute to her enormous influence on their work in cities all over the world
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As many as 45,000 people are gathered in Ecuador’s capital for the UN’s future of cities summit. Inside the fence, speakers say greater inclusivity will make better cities for all – but elsewhere in Quito, some residents are feeling shut out
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Since its 2015 Expo, Milan has been busy thinking about food. Laws, apps and chefs are all actively fighting food waste – and as countries celebrate World Food Day, can the momentum spread to other cities?
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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From Austin’s howling coyotes to Amsterdam’s cycling etiquette and Abu Dhabi’s taxi drivers, readers share their experiences of settling in a new city
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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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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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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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Photographer 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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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
popular
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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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The truth about property developers: how they are exploiting planning authorities and ruining our cities
Oliver WainwrightAffordable 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 East -
The 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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What 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 USSR in 10 buildings: Constructivist communes to Stalinist skyscrapers