This is an introductory course suitable to all but aimed primarily at students who are intending to focus on urban studies within the environmental studies program. The course will survey central stages in the development of cities from antiquity through the middle ages, the urban revolution in 19^th century Western Europe and up to the main challenges facing cities in the second half of the 20^th century: suburbanization, globalization, immigration and overpopulation, world-cities, etc. We shall also examine central themes in urban sociology - such as "the urban character", socio-economic gaps, estrangement vs. community, mass culture etc. – through classical texts in the field (Weber, Simmel, Wirth, Benjamin, Jacobs, and others). Towards the end we shall deal shortly with urbanity in Israel and current challenges such as sustainable transport.