cities
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Berlin Wall in Google Street ViewBerlin’s modern face – glass skyscrapers, busy roads, overgrown lots – shows little trace of its old scar. Our Street View expert takes us back to Checkpoint Charlie, the death strip ... and the wall’s glorious fall 25 years ago next month -
Disabled man takes on Tube challengeBen Holt, who has cerebral palsy, bids to visit all 270 London Underground stations to highlight system’s accessibility problems and set world record
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Where on earth is the Berlin wall?Twenty five years after its fall, more pieces of the Berlin wall are scattered across the globe – from Seattle to South Korea, Cape Town to Canberra – than remain in the city itself -
London life – mappedWhere do the happiest, least stressed, most satisfied Londoners live? What’s the busiest station? Do football fans support their local team? These questions and more are explored by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s London: The Information Capital, published by Particular Books on 30 October -
Urban light pollution: why we're all living with permanent 'mini jetlag'Studies show that exposure to light after dusk is quite literally unnatural, and may be detrimental to health. Do we need 24/7 garages, supermarkets and TV – or should the city that never sleeps be put to bed?
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The best cycling infrastructure in cities around the world – your picturesFrom boardwalks to bridges, tunnels to cycle-friendly subways, you shared your experiences of the best urban bike infrastructure from across the globe
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Could new technology help older people in Barcelona create stronger networks?Ageing populations are increasingly prone to feeling lonely and isolated in modern, anonymous cities around the world. A new app from Barcelona might have the answer
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Could new technology help older people in Barcelona create stronger networks?Ageing populations are increasingly prone to feeling lonely and isolated in modern, anonymous cities around the world. A new app from Barcelona might have the answer
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The Russian cyclists bringing bike culture to MoscowHarsh winters and the world’s worst road congestion make the Russian capital an inhospitable place for cyclists. So why does the number of riders keep on rising? Maryam Omidi reports for The Calvert Journal
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The 2014 World Cities Day Challenge: what's your favourite city idea?This Friday, in conjunction with UN-Habitat, we’re staging the very first Guardian World Cities Day Challenge, with 35 finalists taking the hot seat to show off their city’s best idea. Get involved!
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Should we be concerned about Placemeter – an app which monitors street views from apartment windows?
Should we be concerned about Placemeter – an app which monitors street views from apartment windows?
Placemeter pays New Yorkers to suction-cup an old smartphone to their window, then records and analyses what’s happening outside
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Berlin Wall in Google Street ViewBerlin’s modern face – glass skyscrapers, busy roads, overgrown lots – shows little trace of its old scar. Our Street View expert takes us back to Checkpoint Charlie, the death strip ... and the wall’s glorious fall 25 years ago next month
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Disabled man takes on Tube challengeBen Holt, who has cerebral palsy, bids to visit all 270 London Underground stations to highlight system’s accessibility problems and set world record
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Where on earth is the Berlin wall?Twenty five years after its fall, more pieces of the Berlin wall are scattered across the globe – from Seattle to South Korea, Cape Town to Canberra – than remain in the city itself
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London life – mappedWhere do the happiest, least stressed, most satisfied Londoners live? What’s the busiest station? Do football fans support their local team? These questions and more are explored by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s London: The Information Capital, published by Particular Books on 30 October
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Urban light pollution: why we're all living with permanent 'mini jetlag'Studies show that exposure to light after dusk is quite literally unnatural, and may be detrimental to health. Do we need 24/7 garages, supermarkets and TV – or should the city that never sleeps be put to bed?
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The best cycling infrastructure in cities around the world – your picturesFrom boardwalks to bridges, tunnels to cycle-friendly subways, you shared your experiences of the best urban bike infrastructure from across the globe
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An urbanist's guide to Cairo: ‘a city weighed down by stereotypes’Taxis, trash and street dance parties: Mohamed Elshased of Cairobserver navigates us beyond the sensory overload of the Egyptian capital
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Old white guy for mayor: has Toronto's great multicultural project failed?It’s the world’s third most multicultural city – but with voters poised to replace Rob Ford with yet another middle-aged white man, Colin Marshall asks whether Toronto needs a new big idea
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Melbourne faces becoming 'Anywhere City' unless we come up with a planPeople are being shut out of major planning decisions and our control system can verge on meaningless. It’s time to act
in pictures
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Stephen Wilkes blends more than 1,000 photographs into each day-night cityscape – in picturesThe American photographer spends 15 hours perched on a rooftop or crane photographing each city from one camera angle through night and day, before months in the studio painstakingly blending them into one seamless image
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Berlin Wall in Google Street ViewBerlin’s modern face – glass skyscrapers, busy roads, overgrown lots – shows little trace of its old scar. Our Street View expert takes us back to Checkpoint Charlie, the death strip ... and the wall’s glorious fall 25 years ago next month
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London life – mappedWhere do the happiest, least stressed, most satisfied Londoners live? What’s the busiest station? Do football fans support their local team? These questions and more are explored by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s London: The Information Capital, published by Particular Books on 30 October
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Inside Geneva's nuclear bunker turned homeless shelter – in picturesReinforced doors, metal bunks and hot food – with nuclear winter an unlikely prospect, Geneva’s fallout shelters have thrown open their doors to welcome the homeless
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Welcome to Venice, China: Dalian copies canals, palaces … and gondoliersThe copycat city in north-eastern Liaoning province is just the latest example of China’s fondness for replicating Europe’s greatest architectural hits
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Architecture for bikes – in picturesFrom Calgary’s space-age Peace bridge to Eindhoven’s floating roundabout and the Copenhagen apartments with a cycle path straight up to the 10th floor, Gavin Blyth’s Velo City highlights some of the world’s best cycling infrastructure
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First world war in Google Street ViewFrom British prisoners of war being marched through Bruges to anti-aircraft guns on the Eiffel Tower and new recruits in Toronto, our Street View specialist takes us back 100 years
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CBRE Urban Photographer of the Year 2014 – winning imagesThe theme of this year’s competition – Cities at Work – challenged photographers from around the world to capture the beauty and day-to-day reality of working life
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The Focus E15 protests – in picturesThe group of vulnerable young mothers who occupied vacant flats after being told they would be rehoused outside London by Newham council have now left the Carpenters estate. Photographer Jess Hurd visited the protesters this week to document their campaign
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Sink or swim: designing for climate change – in picturesArchitectural, fine art and news photographers shed light on contemporary and traditional solutions to the problem of climate change in densely populated coastal regions
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Meet the Indian boss who gave cars, apartments and diamonds to employeesForward-thinking Hari Krishna chairman marks Diwali by lavishing almost 500 cars and more than 200 apartments on his long-serving staff
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Q&A: Are UK cities prepared for another flooding disaster?We invited readers to join our experts in a live webchat on whether UK cities and towns are ready for the threat of flooding
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Jo Baka: the Gujarati internet meme that went viralFrom jokes between friends to public health messages, a traditional phrase is sweeping though Indian communities worldwide, thanks to Facebook, WhatsApp and a good dose of humour
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Can we climate-proof cities? Six of the best conclusions from SXSW Eco 2014City links: This week we were at the SXSW Eco conference in Austin, Texas, thinking about the future of cities amid climate change. Here are some of the best of the (many) conclusions
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Could new technology help older people in Barcelona create stronger networks?Ageing populations are increasingly prone to feeling lonely and isolated in modern, anonymous cities around the world. A new app from Barcelona might have the answer
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Researching cities: does Bogotá's transformation hold up to scrutiny?Western audiences are being sold a shiny new version of the Colombian city – but one academic says his research has uncovered a culture of exclusion and a mirage of social harmony
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For too long, cities have paid little notice to global issues. Climate change must change their mindsetMature cities can adapt and new cities can design themselves to be climate resilient from the start. Alongside unavoidable expenditure come potentially lucrative benefits for innovative businesses providing solutions – and the prize is a big one
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Why climate change should signal the end of the city-stateOur urban leaders’ belief in autonomy as the ultimate goal must be unset, writes Richard Sennett. The seductive idea of a place controlling its own fortunes is out of date
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Wooden skyscrapers could be the future of flat-pack cities around the worldThe development of engineered timber could herald a new era of eco-friendly ‘plyscrapers’. Christchurch welcomed its first multistorey timber structure this year, there are plans for Vancouver, and the talk is China could follow
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Sink or swim: designing for climate change – in picturesArchitectural, fine art and news photographers shed light on contemporary and traditional solutions to the problem of climate change in densely populated coastal regions
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Can Amsterdam’s e-trikes revolutionise the city’s food system?The future of food: A new Dutch scheme aims to distribute local fare more sustainably, unclog the streets and reduce Amsterdam’s 15 million annual food miles
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Readers' short films: invisible Venice, Brazil's toy city and a Doha lullabyWe asked readers to make three-minute films about their cities for the Barbican’s City Visions film season. In this first of three updates, here are some of our favourites
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How temporary 'cardboard cathedral' rose from the ruins to become most recognised building in ChristchurchAs Christ Church Cathedral remains gripped in a battle between modernity and heritage, a bold new structure is coming to symbolise progress as the city rebuilds after the earthquake
talking points
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The best city blogs around the worldWe're getting to know the local urban voices who cover their home cities most insightfully. Here's our initial list of bloggers, from Detroit to Addis Ababa
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Victoria Henshaw obituaryUrban planner and academic who believed good design considered the smells of towns and cities as well as their sights and sounds
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Architecture for bikes – in picturesFrom Calgary’s space-age Peace bridge to Eindhoven’s floating roundabout and the Copenhagen apartments with a cycle path straight up to the 10th floor, Gavin Blyth’s Velo City highlights some of the world’s best cycling infrastructure
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Innovation in, lycra out: what Copenhagen can teach us about cyclingFrom ‘green wave’ traffic lights and majestic harbour bike bridges to digital countdowns and foot rests at junctions, the Danish capital is full of clever ideas to improve city cycling
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Cycle superhighways row: wheels within wheelsThe PR war over Boris Johnson’s flagship cycling scheme risks impeding its progress
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The best cycling infrastructure in cities around the world – your picturesFrom boardwalks to bridges, tunnels to cycle-friendly subways, you shared your experiences of the best urban bike infrastructure from across the globe
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The Tour de Neglect: a cycle ride through Buffalo's deprived East SideThe ‘rust belt’ city of Buffalo, New York is experiencing a renaissance after decades of decline. But while one half rises from the post-industrial ashes, large swaths of the other remain trapped in poverty and disrepair
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Reality check: will 'Crossrail for bikes' bring gridlock to central London?London could soon be home to the longest continuous, substantially segregated urban cycleway in Europe – but lobbyists are raising concerns about the impact on congestion, pedestrians and businesses. Do they have a point?
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Regenerating Southwark: urban renewal prompts social cleansing fearsThe London borough is battling to bridge the gap between its working-class residents and an influx of well-heeled investors
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Theaster Gates, the artist whose latest project is regenerating ChicagoGary Younge: Gates made his name by staging soul food dinners in honour of a fictional Japanese potter. Now he is recycling the fabric of Chicago’s past, including its bricks and mortar, to transform the city’s depressed areas
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Missing Maps: nothing less than a human genome project for citiesA huge number of the world’s most vulnerable human settlements have remained unmapped ... until now. Enter an unprecedented plan to map the world’s forgotten places
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Abandoned sports stadiums around the world – your picturesFrom Phnom Penh and Yokohama to Athens and Glasgow, you shared your pictures of deserted sports stadiums and venues in cities. Here are some of the best
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The Petite Ceinture: the battle over Paris's abandoned railwayA unique 19-mile belt of neglected green space in the very centre of the French capital is sparking debate among environmentalists and entrepreneur around the future direction of development in the city
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Underground London: abandoned tube stations and tunnels – in picturesOxford academic and ‘place hacker’ Bradley Garrett has spent years exploring the capital’s hidden depths. His latest book, Subterranean London, is published by Prestel
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Jonathan Jones, Framing the Debate: The architecture of corporate confidence has faded to green. Can the city that defined energy excess become a symbol of resistance to preserve the future?The meaning of the climate march's defining photo
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Abandoned sports stadiums in cities: share your pictures and storiesExpensive sports stadiums in cities around the world lie unused and decaying, the remnants of ambitious urban building projects. Share your photos of them – and ideas for their reuse
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How American sports franchises are selling their cities shortHometown pride and promises of economic growth are often leveraged to garner billions for new stadium megaprojects, taking public funds away from other pressing needs
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Timbuktu: portrait of a city on the edge of existence – in picturesWhat 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
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Lost and Found in Detroit – in picturesAmy Sacka’s 500-day photo essay exploring Detroit is an attempt to discover the meaning of home. Raised in the suburbs, where the ruined Motor City was a place to be feared, returning was a personal challenge
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To Hull and back: the rebirth of Britain’s poorest cityHull’s twin loss of its fishing and shipping industries consigned it to a future of poverty, isolation and even ridicule. But now all that is about to change, because the city is putting its faith back in the North Sea
We can't let lobbyists destroy London's segregated cycle lane plans