<?
    //значение выделенного элемента в списке, например после сабмита (SUBMIT)
    $start_value='start';
    mysql_connect( "localhost" ,  "mysql_user" ,  "mysql_password" ) or
        die( "Could not connect: "  . mysql_error());
    mysql_select_db( "mydb" );
    $select='<select size=1 name="city">';
    $result = mysql_query( "SELECT id, name FROM mytable" );
    while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_NUM)) {
      $sel_item = ($row[ 1 ]==$start_value) ? 'selected' : '';
      $select.=sprintf('<option value="%s" %s>%s</option>',$row[ 0 ],$sel_item, $row[ 1 ])
    }
    $select.='</select>'
    mysql_free_result($result);
?>