'The town' is a place with many streets, houses, shops / stores, buildings, etc. where people live and work. It is larger than a village but smaller than a city. 'A city' is a large and important town.

What about; big town? small city? A town is a human settlement bigger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while many British "small towns" would qualify as cities in the United States. ( Wikipedia)

small town big city cities are big, towns are small.