Believe it or not, but the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world counts its existence for 11,000 years as of today. The town, Damascus, is the Syrian capital city, and astonishingly enough, not much has changed behind this ancient city's walls. However, not many towns keep the same faces for such a long time, often changing and evolving. Sometimes the city development makes it even more beautiful, but as it is in a more often case, the alluring greenery and historical houses have to make way for skyscrapers in the ever-changing city skyline.

The world has increased over the last 100 years that it's difficult to imagine just how much things have changed during that time. Many of the world's most famous cities and country capitals - like Kuala Lumpur for example, or Hong Kong - bare little resemblance to their earlier selves, and cities such as Dubai didn't even exist at all until relatively recently.

Take a look at these before and after pictures of beautiful cities to see what we mean. Compiled by Bored Panda, they're sure to give you a fresh perspective on how you look at the world's biggest cities and settlements.