Straddling the border between the United States and Mexico, this metropolitan area is home to more than 5 million people.
Published May 6, 2013
The bright lights of Shanghai’s city center and the distinctive new skyscrapers that form the skyline along the Pudong district make for spectacular night viewing from space.
Published Apr 16, 2012
There were few Indian rulers as passionate about architecture as Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of Jaipur.
Published Aug 24, 2019
Buenos Aires is one of the larger cities seen by orbiting crews. Twelve million people, almost one third of all Argentines, live in this city, often called the “Paris of the South”.
Published Mar 16, 2003
It was Texas hot when this view of the capital city of Austin was taken in late July by astronaut Ed Lu. Adding to the rising temperatures were heated debates in the Texas Capitol Building, where a special session had convened. Eleven senate Democrats thwarted a redistricting vote by disappearing from the state. Were Lu, and his Expedition 7 partner Yuri Malenchenko looking for the missing Democrats? We’ll never know. Astronauts have always enjoyed observing cities around the world. These images of Austin provide a 2003 baseline for monitoring its regional development and growth.
Published Aug 24, 2003
A key city on the old Silk Road stands midway between Western Europe and China.
Published Sep 23, 2013
Québec City is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Americas, and the one that still feels closest to its roots.
Published Feb 12, 2018
The brilliant lights of Belgium shine in this nighttime photograph taken from the International Space Station.
Published May 5, 2014
Barcelona, Spain, occupies a low plateau along the Mediterranean coastal plain. The city is the second largest in Spain (after the capital, Madrid), and it hosts the country’s largest seaport, portions of which are visible in the lower right of the image. This detailed astronaut photograph captures several notable features of the Barcelona urban landscape. The architectural design of the Eixample district (image center) displays a grid pattern distinctive for Barcelona. Built during the 19th and 20th centuries, the district was built with octagonal city blocks—rectangular blocks with the corners cut off. (At the level of detail of this photograph, the blocks appear to be squares.) The original intention was for buildings to occupy only two or three sides of the octagonal blocks, surrounding gardens and open space. While the original street grid pattern remains, today many of the octagonal blocks are completely built up.
Published Feb 19, 2007
