Preamble City Light By Lewis H. Lapham When it comes to the medieval cathedral and mosque, the modern skyscraper and the slum, world history is city history. More
Essay Dickens in Lagos By George Packer In Nigeria, modernity hasn’t yet begun to solve the problems of people thrown together in the urban cauldron. More
Essay A Matter of Optics By Warren Breckman Rulers of cities have always had an interest in visibility, both in representing their power and in controlling people by seeing them. More
Essay City of Seeds By Daniel Mason With an influx of people from all over the world, the city can become a hothouse for foreign flora. More
Essay Waiting for Goffman By Michael Dirda There are few better interpreters of modern metropolitan life than sociologist Erving Goffman. More
Essay Urban Scrawl By Jamie James The city novel begins with a young person arriving from the provinces—and the world rising up to greet them. More
Essay Necropolis By Colin Dickey The corpse has proved to be a bedeviling problem for the city—how do we live with our dead? More
