The all-round crises that plague the cities are presented as the legacy of systemic society-environment interactions. The implications of crises of cities are analyzed in a sustainability perspective and as a threat to current civilizations. It is argued that the vicious circle of crises of the cities cannot be broken unless a systemic reversal mechanism is adopted encompassing all the interconnected subsystems. The inadequacies of the conventional scientific or analytical approaches to address the current spiral of crises are discussed. Finally, to break the vicious circle of crises and paving the ways for transformation of the cities into sustainable communities, a "Sustainable-Systemic-Precautionary" framework is provided.
