cities
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Story of cities #10: how the dirty Old Town became enlightened EdinburghScotland’s capital was in a desperate state, plagued by social problems and limited space. Then a young, unqualified architect came up with a plan for Edinburgh New Town – and it heralded the greatest period in the city’s history
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An insider's guide to Šibenik: where the streets have secret namesAway from the crowded streets of Croatia’s usual tourist haunts, the fashion-conscious city of Šibenik – home to legendary inventor Nikola Tesla – has a thriving festival scene, dazzling Dalmatian vistas and a good line in complaining -
A city framed: the doors and windows of Transylvania's Cluj-Napoca – in picturesIn the unofficial capital of Transylvania, Mihail Onaca wanders the streets to capture the Romanian city’s magnificent windowframes and doorways -
Which UK city suffers the most panic attacks?A new survey suggests that almost one in 10 Swansea residents endure at least one panic attack a week – with public transport and densely populated offices identified as key urban triggers
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Story of cities #9: Kingston, Jamaica – a city born of 'wickedness' and disasterWhen the devastating earthquake of 1692 ripped through Port Royal, aka the ‘richest and wickedest city in the world’, a very different Caribbean capital rose up in its place. But could Kingston’s rigid grid plan impose order after the chaos?
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Story of cities #11: the reclamation of Mumbai – from the sea, and its people?Transforming Bombay’s seven islets into land fit for a city was a daunting challenge. Its success created one of the world’s megacities – but today Mumbai faces the twin challenges of extreme population density and severe flood risk
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Third of British workers may benefit from new legal pay levelNational living wage of £7.20 for over 25s will be less of a boost for London, finds Resolution Foundation
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En-suite education: the unstoppable rise of luxury student housingThe UK’s student boom has seen a spate of new, expensive, high-spec studio flats for them to live in, even as local residents are desperate for affordable accommodation. From Coventry to Cambridge, are universities starting to resemble property developers – and does this help or hurt our cities?
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A return visit to the Building Bloqs initiative – in a suburb best known for stabbings and mini-riots – shows what social enterprises can do with proper supportI’ve found the key to Britain’s recovery: an orange shed in Shanktown
the big picture
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From selling bubblegum to cycling in the sunFor Guardian Lagos week, Instagrammers across the city have been sharing their brilliant photographs. Here are just some of our favourite images
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‘My neighbour avoids me ... I was very unhappy’: 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
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Streetfighting woman: inside the story of how cycling changed New YorkAs transport commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan faced down critics to transform New York with 400 miles of cycling routes, a bike share scheme and the remodelling of Times Square. Any city can do it, she tells Peter Walker
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Occupy Buenos Aires: the workers' movement that transformed a city, and inspired the worldThe Argentinian capital’s many cooperatives showed that Occupy movements were not simply a response to economic crisis – they could be sustainable business models, too. So why are they now under threat?
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A manifesto for London at 10 million: 'Give its citizens the freedom to live well'In an extract from his book Slow Burn City, Rowan Moore argues that if London is to grow to 10 million, it needs an intervention
talking points
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Lagos is set to double in size in 15 years. How will my city possibly cope?Booker prize nominee Chigozie Obioma loves Lagos, but shares the centuries-old fear that it may ‘spoil’. With 2,000 new people arriving every day, the city faces its toughest challenge yet
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get involved
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How can cities be improved for older people?Cities around the world are seeing a rise in ageing populations. Wherever you live, share your experiences of urban life in older age and how it can be improved
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'You are left with no choice but to leave' – your stories of long-term gentrificationReaders from Istanbul, London, San Jose, Montreal, Newcastle and Buenos Aires share their experiences of neighbourhood change over the decades
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'I came back to the city and instantly felt my heart tense up'From noise and pollution to street harassment and anonymous crowds, readers share their experiences and thoughts on what makes cities stressful – and which places are the biggest offenders. Is it time to relocate?
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Unloved city rivers around the world – your pictures and storiesYou shared your experiences, photos and memories of forgotten or unloved rivers in cities around the world, from Birmingham to Belo Horizonte
in pictures
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Cracked walls, wrinkled faces: Paris' modernist housing estates and their elderly residentsPhotographer Laurent Kronental spent four years documenting the lives of older citizens living in the Grands Ensembles housing estates built around Paris after the second world war for his Souvenir d’un Futur project
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Guns, snuff and 5¢ lemonade: 1930s New York shops by Berenice AbbottPhotographer Berenice Abbott started Changing New York – her grand project to document NYC – in 1935, capturing shops and buildings before they were torn down. The photos are held in the archive of the New York Public Library
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London, a pilgrimage: Gustave Doré's historic visions of the capital cityIn 1869, French artist Gustave Doré and British journalist Blanchard Jerrold began a landmark account of the deprivation and squalor of mid-Victorian London
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After Katrina: New Orleans then and now – interactive photographsTen years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, photographer Mario Tama of Getty Images returns to the city to document how things have changed
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The world's weirdest roundaboutsNo distraction is too bizarre when it’s in the middle of a roundabout. Here are some of the strangest and most beautiful examples, including from the hitherto-uncelebrated roundabout hotspot of Oman
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Abandoned airports around the worldUrban growth, sporting events, financial crashes and political turmoil have left a trail of city airports and airfields deserted around the globe. While some lie abandoned or face redevelopment, others are being creatively reused
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
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