What is it?

The United Nations General Assembly designated 31 October as World Cities Day which marks the end of ‘Urban October’. The whole month is an opportunity for everyone to be part of the conversation about the challenges and opportunities created by the fast rate of change in our cities and towns.

Today, around 55 per cent of the world’s population lives in towns and cities, with the level of urbanisation projected to reach almost 70 per cent by 2050 so addressing the challenges of urbanisation and contributing to sustainable urban development is seen worldwide as vitally important.

It is an opportunity for pupils of all ages to think about cities not only in their own country but around the globe and how their own location is similar to, and different from, other places.

How do places become cities?

City status in the past has often been awarded because the place has a cathedral, university, a Royal charter or large population, but there are no set rules for being granted the status, which is awarded by the monarch on advice of ministers.

The most recent eight cities in the UK were awarded city status by Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the Royal Platinum Jubilee.

This brought the number of official cities in mainland UK to 76, with 55 in England, eight in Scotland, seven in Wales and six in Northern Ireland. A further two were Stanley in the Falkland Islands and Douglas in the Isle of Man.

Some suggested activities

These activities can be useful independent activities for a range of age groups or could provide an interesting homework challenge.

1. Research interesting facts about cities in the UK – which is the smallest city, which is the oldest one, the one nearest to them, which cities does the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude) pass through? Which city has more canals than Venice? (Birmingham!)
2. Create an alphabet quiz where pupils name a city for each letter of the alphabet. This can be worldwide, and you may choose to let them use an atlas… or not!
3. Investigate what is meant by the description ‘a 15-minute city’.
4. Research the impact of urbanisation on places – a useful resource can be found on National Geographic’s website here.
5. Cities do not remain static for long so interesting definitions to research might include:

• • mega city
  • metropolis
  • smart city
  • centrally planned city
  • garden city
  • twin cities.

6. Investigate what is happening weather-wise in cities around the world now. This activity sheet can provide a starting point.
7. If they had the chance to help design a city what would they feel was important to include?

The GA has some excellent books about cities in the UK (A Guide to Fieldwork series) which are very useful and interesting. Although you may not live close to one of these locations there may be useful hints on ideas for fieldwork in a town near your school. They may also provide good birthday, or Christmas presents for someone you know!

Useful websites

• https://www.un.org/en/observances/cities-day includes a report for World Cities Day 2024.
• https://urbanoctober.unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/2024-urban_october_report.pdf has a useful report on 2024 events throughout the month with information, statistics etc.
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather for weather in cities around the world.
• https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/for world times.

This Teaching Resource was written for the Geographical Association by Paula Richardson.