I’m posting this largely for planning purposes. (I’d made the header at some point last year….bit of a shame not to use it!). I have a few titles already in hand for this, and hope to pursue it further in the year. The cities empaneled above are Babylon, Athens, Istanbul, London, and Guangzhou (I think). I would have searched for either Guangzhou or Shanghai to reference China’s exploding metropolitan habit.
Civilization as the Story of Cities
Books on cities in general
The Challenge of Making a City
Books on modern urbanism and infrastructure
Cities in History
Histories of specific cities, especially as they defined, dominated, or epitomized an era in history
Reading Freely 
Cool! I’ll look forward to seeing future reviews. As someone born in the centre of a reasonably large city and who has lived or working in or near cities all my life I do have a fondness for them – although I do prefer living on their edges rather their centres (and not just because of cost!).
I have a strange love/hate relationship with them — I’m absolutely fascinated by them, often romanticize them, but they can be overwhelming and stressful. I certainly wouldn’t live in a metro these days given their tendency toward mob disruption and topside tyranny….
When I started working in the centre of London in the late 80’s I was quite stressed out for about 6 weeks or so. But gradually, even without fully realising it at the time, my system adapted and when I was elsewhere everything seemed so SLOW! I always thought that there was just 2 types of people in the capital – those in a hurry, and those who get in the way of people in a hurry. It was fun for the 6 years I was there but I wouldn’t go back – at least not to live.. Visits are OK though.