The area of the city is 8 square miles.
To calculate the area, we need to find the area of each individual rectangle within the composite shape and then add them all together.
First rectangle: 4 miles x 2 miles = 8 square miles
Second rectangle: 2 miles x 2 miles = 4 square miles
Third rectangle: 2 miles x 2 miles = 4 square miles
Adding all three rectangles together, we get a total area of 8 + 4 + 4 = 16 square miles.