This encyclopedia, in A-Z format, has as its subject those cities that are the most important to the world in terms of their cultural, historic, economic, demographic or political significance: some 150 world cities are included. City profiles focus on areas such as economy, demographics, labour, culture, crime, education, health, housing, land and environment etc., as well as incorporating data that ranks each city on the basis of more than 75 indicators. This enables researchers to make direct comparisons between cities in different parts of the world.