Smoke takes many forms. It’s the diaphanous creature twir-
ling from the end of a cigarette, or the mirage-inducing exhaust from a rapidly accelerating car leaving a newly changed traffic light. And in cities, smoke is destruction, or power generation, or the collective sigh of hundreds of Germans watching their fußball team narrowly miss a goal. It is movement, clouds, icebergs, language and dragons. It follows us, evades our touch, eddies around our feet and brings tears to our eyes. The inaugural issue of Cities +, Cities Plus or citiesplus, however you would like to increasingly awkwardly stylise it, is an idea executed not in smoke but on paper and computers and with cameras at the ready. It is quick snapshots and considered responses; maths and images and stories and analysis. But enough gushing (and before you’ve even turned the first page!). Perhaps the most valuable impression brought to this issue is the incredible diversity of backgrounds and destinations, and the global crunch that this suggests is occurring across the world. We have a U.S. American in Haiti, an Indian in Berlin, a South African in Mumbai, a Colombian in Darmstadt, a Catalan and U.S. American in China and an Australian in a place you might know or have visited or seen in pictures. Or, like the Austrian, maybe it’s a trip to places yet to exist. Or even further (and possibly weirder) a Russian exploring (Russian) Icebergs and a Pole unearthing a (Polish) smoke-dragon. Obviously, no amount of smoke-grabbing could be done without the invaluable help of our editorial team who have worked tirelessly in vetting submissions, editing and compiling the issue. View this issue through their smokescreen of effort for which we are very thankful. Now step forward, dear traveller. Step into the ether, into the visible currents and unseen words that drift, in smoke, towards the firmament. Here’s to many more successful issues of Cities Plus - and for now, we leave you, always the magician with his bag of tricks, in a puff of smoke.