Wikipedia:WikiProject Cities

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First, an important note for everyone to remember:

A few Wikipedians have gotten together to make some suggestions about how we might organize data in articles about states, counties, cities and towns. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the below guidelines may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles!

Contents

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WikiProject Cities

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Scope

This WikiProject aims primarily to provide information and a consistent format for cities of the world. "Cities" include municipalities and other civil divisions, including cities, towns, villages, hamlets, townships, unincorporated communities, sections of municipalities, and neighborhoods.

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Related projects

The parent of this WikiProject is the WikiProject Countries.

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Climate

For proposed infoboxes/city climate graphs, see WikiProject Climate

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Descendant projects

Descendant WikiProject Cities include:

Australia:

Europe:

North America:

Related WikiProject Cities pages:

Other related projects include:

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Wikipedia featured articles

See article's talk page for more information about the featured article nomination process (and peer review, if available) to see how these articles became featured articles.

Africa:

Asia:

Australia:

Europe:

North America:

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Former featured articles

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Featured article candidates

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Participants

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Mapping project

"Red dot" maps for cities are being produced by a number of Wikipedians. This project is being coordinated at User:Seth Ilys#The_Dot_Project.

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Structure (format for city template)

Each city shall be called by the common name of the city, e.g. Jackson, Mississippi, Des Moines, Iowa, New York, New York. All other possible common names for the city should re-direct to the main city entry. Ideally, it should be that every city has an entry titled in the CITY NAME, STATE NAME manner. New York City, for example, or other such instances should at least be in some way associated to a CITY NAME, STATE NAME entry so that a common linking standard can be maintained. (The proliferation of New York City entries shows, I think, the need for a naming standard specific to cities). In the event of a naming conflict (e.g. a township and a borough having the same name), it should be called by its city, county (with the word "County" removed), and state. Also if the location is a township only, you should attach the word "Township" to its name. (Example: [[Manor Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]).

See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (city names).

A template article can be found at the bottom of this page. A picture of the most famous symbol of the city (E.G. the Statue of Liberty before New York, or the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco) goes before the table.

A discussion forum to develop a standard for international cities which have changed hands in modern history and therefore had another "official" name can be found at /Names issues.

The article on each U.S. city shall include the following information:

  • NOTE: Please only create these headings when there is more than a couple of sentences worth of information for an area. There is no need at all for an "introduction" heading.
  • NOTE: Where possible use both metric and english measurements. Metric measurements should be used if only one is available because of its global use.

After an introduction, the rest of the article should consist of a few short paragraphs. These paragraphs should give an outline of the history/politics/etc. of the city and link to a full article on them. If any section becomes too detailed, it should be split off into a separate article with more detail as follows:

The heading should look like: 

== Geography ==
{{main|Geography of Chicago}}

A notice should be placed on each temp page that should read:

''This temporary page is being used to expand and convert the article [[_]] over to the new format agreed to at [[WikiProject Cities]]. Please feel free to add or edit anything on this page to help in the conversion process.''

Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted.

  • Introduction:
  • History
    • major historical events that occurred in city
  • Law and government
    • Mayor or City Executive-- current, previous executives
    • representative body?
  • Geography
    • Physical geography (area, unique features)
    • Major Parks
  • Economy
    • Major industries/products
    • taxes
  • Demographics
    • city population
    • racial/ethnic makeup
    • religious makeup
  • Sites of interest
  • Colleges and universities
  • Sports teams
  • Notable natives
  • (Miscellaneous topics and similar lists)
  • External links
NOTE: There are 3 proposals for a revised city template, see talk page.
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Proposed reorganization of US municipalities

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Definition articles

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Intro sentences and category scheme

The following proposal is intended to more clearly distinguish between incorporated and unincorporated municipalities, and to use more accurate terminology when describing them. The existing articles were created by the Rambot.

The two things that need the most systematic attention in this regard are the category structure and introductory sentences. Terminology used in other parts of the Wikipedia may need to be adjusted, as well.

The following are proposed guidelines for category assignment and introductory sentences for the bewildering array of US municipalities.

  • Incorporated municipalities that are direct children of counties:
    • Foo is a [[US municipality notes|MuniType]] incorporated in [[CountyName County]], [[StateName]].
    • Category:MuniTypes in StateName
    • Category:CountyName County, StateName
  • Incorporated municipalities, part of townships which are part of counties:
    • Foo is an [[US municipality notes|MuniType]] incorporated in [[TownshipName Township]], [[CountyName County]], [[StateName]].
    • Category:MuniTypes in StateName
    • Category:CountyName County, StateName
  • Civil townships that are simple subdivisions of counties and which contain municipalities:
    • Foo is a [[US municipality notes|civil township]] of [[CountyName County]], [[StateName]].
    • Category:CountyName County, StateName
    • Category:Townships in StateName
    • Civil townships do not usually have their own categories.
    • Township articles must mention all the smaller entities that they contain or partially contain, because there is no associated category.
  • Unincorporated areas of counties (mainly CDPs):
    • Foo is an [[US municipality notes|unincorporated area]] of [[CountyName County]], [[StateName]].
    • Category:Unincorporated areas in StateName
    • Category:CountyName County, StateName
    • Unincorporated areas of counties are CDPs which are not contained in any incorporated entity (or by any other CDP) smaller than the county.
  • Independent city
    • Foo is an [[US municipality notes|independent city]] incorporated in [[StateName]].
    • Category:Cities in StateName
    • Category:Independent cities in the United States
    • For states other than Virgina (where all cities are independent), the special status of the lone independent city should be noted in the introduction of Category:Cities in StateName.
  • Consolidated city-county
    • Foo is a [[US municipality notes|consolidated city-county]] incorporated in [[StateName]].
    • Category:Cities in StateName
    • Category:Counties in StateName
    • Category:Foo, StateName
  • Neighborhoods (whether CDPs or otherwise)
    • Foo is a [[US municipality notes|neighborhood]] of MuniPhrase.
    • Neighborhoods are sections of large cities, which have a distict existence recognized by the US Census, the municipality, or just casually by the people who live there.
    • Neighborhood articles should mention whether they have any legal recognition, such as a historic district, parking district, voting district, or official neighborhood council; or if there are independent groups which establish boundaries of some kind, such as a neighborhood association.
    • Category:Neighborhoods of CityName
    • Category:Neighborhoods in StateName
    • Category:Neighborhoods of CityName should be added to Category:CityName.
  • For other sections of incorporated municipalities:
    • Foo is a [[US municipality notes|section]] of MuniPhrase.
    • Category:Sections of MuniName
    • Category:Municipal sections in StateName
    • Category:Sections of MuniName should be added to Category:MuniName.
    • A section is a part of an incorporated municipality which does not really form a "neighborhood" because it is relatively isolated from other population centers in the municipality.
  • CDPs which don't fall into any of the above cases:
    • Foo is a [[Census-designated place|census-designated place (CDP)]] which is part of MuniPhrase
    • Category:Census-designated places in StateName
    • More descriptive terms should be used if possible.

Notes on the above:

  • MuniType: "City", "Town", "Village", "Township", "Borough", if these terms mean the right thing in the state in question.
  • For MuniPhrase, see the intro sentence for the entity in question. For example, a simple incorporated city would be "[[CityName]] in [[CountyName County]], [[StateName]]"
  • Meta categories
    • Category:Cities_in_StateName should be added to Category:Cities_in_the_United_States. And similar arrangements for state-level categories for towns, villages, counties, townships, unincorporated areas, neighborhoods, CDPs, etc. Category:Cities_in_the_United_States, etc. should in turn should be added to.
    • If city, (or township, neighborhood, or whatever) has its own category, the city article should be added to the category, and the category should be added to all the same categories as the city article.
  • Crossing county boundaries: Just use parallel construction. For example, link to both counties' names in the introductory sentence, and add the entity to both county categories.

Consideration of how to handle county and special districts (which in some cases are co-extensive with CDPs) are left to Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Counties and Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Special Districts.

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Defunct entities

See the discussion page for comments on this usage...

Here's an example to show how defunct entities (whether counties, municipalities, or whatever) should be handled:

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Information matrix

In order to properly label US municipalities, we need to know what each term means in each state, since there is considerable variance.

Many articles will need to be re-classified. For example, in states where no "villages" exist, there should be no village articles. Many articles are improperly classified as "towns", when they are really unincorporated areas or municipal sections. FIPS and other data (see "Useful external sources" section) may enable automated re-filing.

Please help find missing information in the below matrix.

  • County (50/50)
    • US Census: Primary subdivision of all 50 states, except independent cities. In Alaska, called "boroughs" or "census areas" instead (incorporated and statistical entities, respectively). In Louisiana, they are called "parishes" instead. Five counties are boroughs of New York City.
  • Township (24/50)
    • None exist: MA, NY (though towns have some qualities similar to townships), VT, WY
    • Vestigial: AR, CA, IA, NV, NC, OK, SC
    • With governmental powers: IL, IN, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD
    • CT: See "town".
    • MI: Has governmental powers. Charter Townships are a distinct type of Township with expanded powers and have their own category.
    • WI: Civil townships exist, but are called "towns". For clarity, this should be documented in every town category and article in the state.
    • NJ, PA: An incorporated municipality, part of a county. Should be referred to as "municipal township", and treated as a municipality.
  • City (12/50)
    • CT: Incorporated entities that are coterminous with (and in some cases consolidated with) their containing towns, except Groton, in which the town is larger than the city.
    • NY: Incorporated part of a county, with special consideration to New York City, which spans five counties (boroughs). Some cities are completely surrounded by, but are independent of, a town with the same name. See Political_subdivisions_of_New_York_State for more info.
    • Incorporated part of county: CA, MA, PA, NH, RI, VT, MI
    • Incorporated municipality, part of a county: NJ, WY
    • KS: The only form of incorporation, depending on classification may be independent of any township. The cities of Wyandotte County may need special handling due to the Unified Government.
  • Town
  • Borough (50/50)
    • US Census: As below.
    • AK: This is a county-equivalent.
    • CT: Incorporated place that is smaller than the containing town, except Naugatuck, which is a consolidated town-borough. Sometimes has the same name as the containing town.
    • NJ, PA: An incorporated municipality, part of a county.
    • NY: This is one of the five boroughs of New York City, which are also county-equivalents (for census purposes).
    • None exist: All other states.
  • Village (10/50)
    • US Census: Type of incorporated municipality in certain states.
    • None exist: KS, NH, MA, PA, RI, WY
    • Incorporated part of a township, but may cross township and county bounaries: MI
    • Incorporated part of a town: VT
    • MN: Were abolished and existing villages reclassified as cities in the 1960s or 70s.
    • NY: Incorporated part of a town, which may be coterminous, and which may cross town and county boundaries. See Political_subdivisions_of_New_York_State.
    • NJ: An incorporated municipality, part of a county.
  • Hamlet (place) (50/50)
    • US Census: Does not recognize this term as a class. Some unincorporated parts of incorporated towns in NY have "Hamlet" in the name.
    • NY: Does not recognize this term as a legal class. The term is used informally
    • Wikipedia uses this term for part of incorporated town not part of an incorporated village. It improperly implies that this term has official recognition by New York State in the articles: Town, Hamlet (place), Political_subdivisions_of_New_York_State
    • Other states: None exist, except as the term is occasionally used informally to describe small settlements.
  • Census-designated place
    • Any area not coterminous with an incorporated entity, such as a section of an incorporated town or city, or an unincorporated section of a county.
    • Try to find a more specific term to use instead.
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Status

Implementation of the proposal is being coordinated on the talk page.

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Useful external sources

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Open questions

  • How should Metropolitan Areas be categorized? (Census data is available for them.)
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Templates

Templates are used within articles to provide a consistent look to the messages placed into them

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WikiProject Cities notice

Place this WikiProject notice Template:WikiProjectCities at the top of an article's Talk page to direct editors to the WikiProject Cities for guidelines.

Template:WikiProjectCities

To use it, place

{{WikiProjectCities}}

at the top of an article's Talk page

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Template for a U.S. City

Don't forget to replace the "_" with the name of the article being converted. For the table, replace the X's and #'s with the proper information.

This temporary page is being used to expand and convert the article [[_]] over to the new format agreed to at WikiProject Cities. Please feel free to add or edit anything on this page to help in the conversion process.

Template:Infobox City Definition paragraph.

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History

Template:Main

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Geography

Template:Main

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Demographics

Template:Main

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Economy

Template:Main

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Law and government

Template:Main

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Education

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Sites of interest

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Sports

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Notable natives

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(Miscellaneous topics and similar lists)

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External links

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Infobox City

Template:Infobox City is an infobox template. To use it, copy the format on the talk page and substitute the city information in the parameters section as directed on the Infobox template page. See San Jose, California for example.

Additionally, there is an Australia-specific infobox, at Template:Tl. This template is applicable to any city, but was made with Australian cities in mind. It is based on an infobox used for Indian cities.

NOTE: There are 2 proposals for a revised city template, see talk page.fr:Wikipédia:Projet/Villes du monde

zh:Wikipedia:专题/城市

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