# Free city footage: skylines, streets and traffic

> Free city stock video: skylines, streets, traffic and night lights from open archives, with editorial flags where people and brands appear without releases.

6 clips from 1 sources (Internet Archive 6), updated 2026-10-28. Picked from a live search and refreshed daily.

- Same search in the browser: https://video.shep.bot/search?q=city&category=city
- Same search over the API: `curl "https://video.shep.bot/v1/search?q=city&category=city"`
- Details, files and the credit line: `GET https://video.shep.bot/v1/clips/{id}` with an id from the table below.
- Licence verdicts: "Commercial use OK" (with or without credit) is cleared for commercial videos; anything else must be checked or is non-commercial. "(editorial)" means people, insignia or brands appear without releases: not for ads. See https://video.shep.bot/docs/licences.md
- Video is never re-hosted: posters, previews and downloads come straight from the source sites.

## Cities in an edit

A skyline says where a story happens; a busy street says "now"; light trails at night say "modern". City b-roll opens explainers, business videos and travel pieces, and wide shots cut under almost any voice-over.

## People and signs

Street footage is where licences meet the real world: passers-by, shop signs, branded cars and billboards. That is fine for news, documentary and education. For advertising, pick shots where nobody is recognisable and no brand is prominent, or check each clip's editorial flag. Timelapses and night skylines are usually the safest choices.

These results combine public-domain and Creative Commons footage from the sources searched live; modern lifestyle city footage is plentiful on Pexels and Pixabay, which every search links to. Hover a card to watch its preview straight from the source.

## Clips

| Clip | id | What | Source | Licence | Commercial use | Direct download |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [City, The (Part I)](https://archive.org/details/CityTheP1939) | `internetarchive:CityTheP1939` | City & urban, Black & white, 15:48, 1939 | Internet Archive | Public domain | Commercial use OK (editorial) | yes |
| [Berlin: Symphony of a Great City](https://archive.org/details/BerlinSymphonyofaGreatCity) | `internetarchive:BerlinSymphonyofaGreatCity` | City & urban | Internet Archive | Public domain | Unclear: check the terms (editorial) | yes |
| [Detroit: City on the Move](https://archive.org/details/DetroitC1965) | `internetarchive:DetroitC1965` | City & urban, 18:12, 1965 | Internet Archive | Public domain | Commercial use OK (editorial) | yes |
| [Horror Hotel (1960)](https://archive.org/details/HorrorHotel1960) | `internetarchive:HorrorHotel1960` | City & urban, 1:16:28 | Internet Archive | CC BY 3.0 | Unclear: check the terms (editorial) | yes |
| [Third Avenue El](https://archive.org/details/ThirdAve1950) | `internetarchive:ThirdAve1950` | City & urban, 10:32, 1950 | Internet Archive | Public domain | Commercial use OK (editorial) | yes |
| [Street Scene](https://archive.org/details/StreetScene1931) | `internetarchive:StreetScene1931` | City & urban, Black & white, 1:18:32, 1931 | Internet Archive | Public domain | Unclear: check the terms (editorial) | yes |

## Questions

**Can I use street footage with people in it for an ad?**

Only if the people can't be identified or have signed releases. A free licence covers the footage's copyright, not the rights of the people in it. Prefer wide or night shots for ads.

**Why are some city clips black and white?**

Archive films from the Internet Archive show cities from the 1920s to the 1970s. They are great for history and documentary work, and flagged editorial.

## Related collections

- [Free timelapse videos: cities, skies and nature](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-timelapse-videos.md): Free timelapse stock video: city lights, traffic trails, clouds, stars and nature compressed into seconds, with frame rate, resolution and licence.
- [Free drone footage: aerials of land and cities](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-drone-footage.md): Free aerial and drone stock video: flyovers of coastlines, forests, mountains and cities, and views from aircraft, with resolution and licence verdicts.
- [Public-domain newsreels and documentary footage](https://video.shep.bot/footage/public-domain-newsreels.md): Free newsreels and documentary films from the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons: wartime, public information and news footage, with year.
- [Free vertical videos (9:16) for Reels and Shorts](https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-vertical-videos.md): Free vertical 9:16 stock video for Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Stories: portrait clips that fill a phone screen, with resolution and licence.

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Source: https://video.shep.bot/footage/free-city-footage