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152 Things In Cities

John Spacey, updated on August 26, 2024

Cities are large human settlements. Their relative size allows cities to offer significant infrastructure and a wide variety of public space and commercial services that may improve the quality of life of residents. It is also common for cities to be saturated with a single type of land use such as highways, roads, parking and other automobile infrastructure. The following list is designed to illustrate the great variety that is possible in cities.

Airports	Alleyways
Ambulance Stations	Apartment Buildings
Aquariums	Arcades
Art Galleries	Avenues
Bakeries	Banks
Barber Shops & Beauty Salons	Bed & Breakfasts
Bicycle Rentals	Billboards
Blue Roofs	Blue Space
Bookstores	Boulevards
Bowling Alleys	Bridges
Brownfield Sites	Bus Stops
Cafes	Canals
Castles	City Hall
City Walls	Clinics
Colleges	Community Centers
Community Gardens	Concert Halls
Condominiums	Construction Sites
Convenience Stores	Courts
Cycle Highways	Dentists
Department Stores	Docks
Doctor's Offices	Drainage Infrastructure
Dry Cleaners	Electric Grids
Embassies	Factories
Fire Hydrants	Fire Stations
Flower Shops	Garbage Facilities
Gardens	Ghost Spaces
Government Buildings	Green Roofs
Green Space	Green Walls
Grocery Stores	Gyms
Harbors	High Speed Rail
Highways	Historical Buildings / Sites
Hospitals	Hotels
Houses	Karaoke
Landmarks	Laundromats
Libraries	Linear Parks
Markets	Mixed-use Buildings
Mixed-use Streets	Monuments
Movie Theatres	Museums
Nature Reserves	Newspaper Offices
Night Architecture	Nightclubs
Nursery Schools & Daycare Centers	Nursing Homes
Observatories	Office Buildings
Opera Houses	Outdoor Seating
Palaces	Parking / Bicycle Parking
Parks	Patisserie
Pedestrian Infrastructure	Performance Theatres
Pharmacists	Places of Worship (e.g. Churches)
Play Streets	Playgrounds
Police Stations	Ports
Post Offices	Prisons & Jails
Product Showrooms	Public Baths
Public Squares	Public Toilets
Pubs & Bars	Radio Stations
Recreation Facilities	Remarkable Architecture
Restaurants	Rivers & Streams
Schools	Sewer System
Shopping Malls	Shopping Streets
Shops	Sidewalks
Signs	Skating Rinks
Skyscrapers	Spas
Sports Facilities	Stadiums
Street Art	Street Food
Street Lights	Street Vendors
Streets	Subway Stations
Superblocks	Swimming Pools
Taxi Stands	Technology Infrastructure
Television Stations	Tennis Courts
Theme Parks	Towers
Traffic Lights	Train Lines
Train Stations	Trees
Universities	Urban Farms
Urban Forests	Vending Machines
Vertical Parks	Visitor Centers
Void Decks	Water Pipes
Water Towers	Waterfront
Woonerf	Zoos

Public Space

Physical spaces that are open to all. This includes streets and natural features such as parks. Public space can also include indoor spaces such as a library but these are listed under institutions below.

City Infrastructure

The foundational structures, services and systems of a city. City infrastructure includes energy infrastructure, water infrastructure, transportation infrastructure and other infrastructure such as safety infrastructure.

City Institutions

City institutions are durable social features of city such as a university. These include both public services such as a library and private institutions such as a church or temple.

City Attractions

Things that literally "attract" visitors. This includes businesses such as a theme park, institutions such as a museum, places such as a park and features such as a monument.

Local Businesses

It is common for local businesses to become a beloved part of a city's culture and life. For example, the cafes of Paris or the standing bars and restaurants of Tokyo known as tachinomi and tachiya.

City Features

Elements of a city including potentially negative features such as brownfield sites, everyday features such as stoplights and potentially charming features such as night architecture.

City Streets

The various flavors of street that can be found in cities. In some cases, these greatly add to the character of a city or its general quality of life.