Ciudad is the Spanish word for "city" and is generally used in the same way as the English word.
There are also various types of ciudades whose meanings may not immediately be obvious:
- ciudad balneario — beach or coastal resort
- ciudad deportiva — sports complex
- ciudad dormitorio — bedroom community or dormitory town (a city where people live and usually go to a larger city for work)
- ciudad-estado — city-state
- ciudad fantasma — metropolitan ghost town
- ciudad hongo, ciudad en auge — boom town
- ciudad jardín — garden city (a type of planned city that emphasizes the use of green space including gardens)
- ciudad lineal — strip city (a city that consists mostly of buildings along a single long street)
- ciudad natal — city where one was born
- ciudad perdida — shantytown
- ciudad prohibida — forbidden city
- ciudad sanitaria — hospital campus or complex
- ciudad satélita — satellite city (a city located near a much larger city but far enough away or self-sufficient enough to not be considered a suburb)
- ciudad universitaria — university campus
Like "city," la ciudad can also be used as a general term to mean an urbanized area in contrast with lo rural, that which is rural.
Words related to ciudad include ciudadano (citizen) and ciudadanía (citizenship).
