Cities have always been at the heart of culture and with more than three-quarters of the world’s population living in one by 2050, Phaidon asks: What makes a successful city?

The book publisher has created a short film that features interviews with experts on urban culture. Topics covered range from public transportation to ethnic integration to public spaces. ‘I always say one of the reasons that cities have outlasted all these other more powerful, more organized, more centrally commanded systems of power is because they’re incomplete,’ said Columbia University’s Saskia Sassen. ‘It’s their incompleteness that gifts them their longevity’.

As the world gets smaller and cities across the world seem less distant, it seems like the perfect time to take a step back and reflect on these cultural hubs.