Every nation needs a capital: how Erbil turned itself Kurdish
From flags to statues to street names, the city of Erbil has deliberately embraced Kurdish culture to such an extent that it almost seems a Disneyfied spectacle for tourists – except the intended audience is the Kurds themselves
Detroit redefined: city hires America's first official 'chief storyteller'
Irritated by the relentless focus on ruin porn, or pre-emptive stories about the city’s tech resurgence, Aaron Foley will attempt to offer a more nuanced portrait
Lacking Seoul? Why South Korea's thriving capital is having an identity crisis
From the confusing new slogan I.Seoul.U to the viral sensation of Gangnam Style – an inside joke about the city’s success that was lost on most foreign viewers – Seoul is a city struggling to define its brand. But why?
From Dr Martens to Supreme: what makes urban brands so alluring?
Streetwear is a massive £47bn industry – one that depends heavily on the links between brands and ‘authentic’ subcultures. But just what is it about cities that makes them such effective bases for a successful label?
River of garbage: parody drone video mocks Beirut's rubbish crisis
Fed up with an eight-month garbage crisis that has seen their city turned into a rubbish dump, protesters have used drones to spoof a tourism ministry film
‘I’m a PERSON named London NOT the city' – the cities missing a Twitter trick
@London is an avatar fashion designer from Houston, @Brighton is a jewellery retailer and @Birmingham has been suspended. In fact, not one of Britain’s 69 official cities owns its Twitter name
Is the EU's new council building a desperate attempt to change its image?
The grey, corporate atmosphere of the EU quarter is almost a separate city within historic Brussels – a fact that is unlikely to change with a pair of flashy new buildings
Neighbourhood rebranding: wanna meet in LoHo, CanDo or GoCaGa?
From London’s new Knowledge Quarter to New York’s NoBro (seriously), neighbourhood rebranding is all the rage – and we can’t just blame estate agents, writes Arwa Mahdawi
Decimated by manufacturing losses, some smaller cities are turning for help to an unlikely group of people: typeface designers. Can new fonts really breathe life into the postindustrial city?
When cities change their names to stupid things for stupid reasons
The strangest thing about Oregon, Ohio changing its name temporarily to Oregon, Ohio Buckeyes on the Bay, City of Duck Hunters? The fact that stuff like this is not uncommon
Bangs for their bucks: which city has the biggest New Year's Eve fireworks?
They’re expensive, complicated and last a few minutes at most – so what makes cities like London, Dubai and Sydney so obsessed with New Year’s Eve fireworks?
Could those utopian hoardings for new developments get any more nauseating?
Hugo Macdonald: Clouded by nonsensical jargon, bad renders and mood imagery, the advertisements for brand-new building developments trumpet a shiny, happy future that is tantamount to lying
Toledo goes to China: can small cities go it alone on the global stage?
The sleepy city of Toledo, Ohio attracted headlines for its bold attempts to attract Chinese investment. As nations squabble and governments face austerity, is this the solution?
What other cities really think of London - get the data
Contrast how residents of 16 cities around Britain answered questions about the capital’s impact on their lives - and compare these results with the national poll
