Some years ago, the ‘Copenhagen Polis Centre’ project debated the essence of the ancient Greek city and produced an inventory of all ancient Greek cities in Archaic and Classical times, within a wider comparative perspective of emerging urban societies from different parts of the world and different chronological settings. More recently the ‘Reception of the City in Late Antiquity’ European Research Council funded project at the University of Cambridge, re-examined the impact of the ancient Greco-Roman city on subsequent urban history in Europe and the Islamic world, investigating both urban fabric and urban ideals.