How we read a city
Cities are used by millions every day and almost never reviewed. Ratings rank them on things you cannot act on. This atlas does the opposite: it starts from what you are trying to do, and answers with what the city actually keeps open.
Two layers, kept apart
Editorial context
Climate states, the episodes that transform the year, and what each city is known for — curated and attributed to Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, claim by claim.
The rhythm
When food, shops, culture and services open and close — median hours, and the share that run past midnight, open on Sundays, or take a midday break. Measured from OpenStreetMap opening-hours tags across each metro catchment.
Rhythm is measured from OpenStreetMap opening_hours: a range of what the city permits, not a claim about how people behave. 113 of 126 cities carry enough mapped venues to report a rhythm; the rest show their editorial layer only.
What the rhythm is not
"38% of Athens' food & drink venues serve past midnight" is a fact about opening-hours tags — a range of what the city permits. It is not a claim that Athenians stay out late. We report the range; how you live inside it is yours.