Although cities were not new to Africa and the Americas, slave trading and imperialism produced a particular phenomenon: the modern colonial city. These new sites were supposed to broadcast the power and interests of colonial states and societies. Yet, Africans and people of African descent left indelible marks on modern urban life. Research has demonstrated that cities, even in the metropole, were transformed by enslaved women and men, immigrants, refugees, and laborers. These articles discuss the ways women and men shaped cities as property-owners, litigants, activists, and intellectuals and engaged broader questions of identity, belonging, and citizenship. People circulating through the Atlantic world also inhabited cities as gendered, sexual, and affective beings who actively conceptualized ideas about pleasure, morality, respectability, and desire. These articles on New Orleans, Louisiana; East London, South Africa; Marseille, France; and Dakar, Senegal reveal unique approaches that integrate gender and urban studies in an Atlantic world context that considers connections between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. This introduction discusses the shared themes and contributions to the scholarship the authors make while pointing to potential new directions in research.