parse-json.xq

parse.xq

let $items := (
  fetch:text('https://gist.githubusercontent.com/Miserlou/c5cd8364bf9b2420bb29/raw/2bf258763cdddd704f8ffd3ea9a3e81d25e2c6f6/cities.json')
  => parse-json()  (: Convert to XQuery item representation :)
  => array:for-each(function($map){ (: For each entry in that array, do :)
    element item { (: Construct an XML element named item :)
      $map => map:keys()
      => for-each(function($key){  (: For each key in the map, do: :)
        element { $key } {         (: Return an element named $key :)
          $map($key)               (: …and the value of $map($key) :)
        }
      })
    }
  })
  => array:flatten() (: Converts the array to a sequence :)
)

for $item in $items 
return $item (: …insert node $item as last into … :)