Urbanized area (or urban area) is a term used to define an area where there is an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. This term is at one end of the spectrum of suburban and rural areas. An urban area is more frequently called a city or town. Illustration of the backyards of a surburban neighbourhood Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. ... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Sheep eating grass in rural Australia Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... Melbourne, Australia by night For alternate meanings see city (disambiguation) A city is an urban area, differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town In American English, a town is usually a municipal corporation that is smaller than a city but larger than a village. ...

Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Measuring the extent of an urbanized area helps in analyzing population density and urban sprawl, and in determining urban and rural populations. Urban sprawl is a term for the expansive, rapid, and sometimes reckless, growth of a greater metropolitan area, traditionally suburbs (or exurbs) over a large area. ...

Unlike an urbanized area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urbanized area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment (commuting). This makes metropolitan areas a less relevant statistic for determining per capita land usage and densities. A metropolitan area is a large population center consisting of a large city and its adjacent zone of influence, or of several neighboring cities or towns and adjoining areas, with one or more large cities serving as its hub or hubs. ...

Definition

The US Census Bureau defines an urbanized area as: "Core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile and (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)." Definitions vary somewhat in other nations. The minimum density requirement is generally 400 persons per square kilometer. In Australia, the minimum density is 200 people per square kilometer. In Japan urbanized areas are defined as contiguous areas of densely inhabited districts (DIDs) using census enumeration districts as units with a density requirement of 4,000 people per square kilometer. Several countries define urbanized areas on the basis of urban-type land use, not allowing any gaps of typically more than 200 meters. In less developed countries, in addition to land use and density requirements, a requirement that a large majority of the population (typically 75%) is not engaged in agriculture and/or fishing is sometimes used.

In Canada and the United Kingdom, urbanized areas are referred to as "urban areas." In France, urbanized areas are referred to as "unites urbaine." In Australia, urbanized areas are referred to as "urban centres."

See also

• Largest urban areas of the European Union

This is a list of all the urban areas of the European Union which have more than 750,000 inhabitants in 2005. ...

External links

• U.S. Census Bureau: Census 2000 Urban and Rural Classification
• Geopolis research group at the University of Avignon, France for European urban areas