Urban area

"Built up area" redirects here. For the Highway Code, see Built-up area (Highway Code).

"Urban agglomeration" redirects here. For city clusters, see Megalopolis.

An urban area^[a] is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. This is the core of a metropolitan statistical area in the United States, if it contains a population of more than 50,000.^[2]

A satellite view of the U.S. Northeast megalopolis at night, the world's most populous and economically productive megalopolis^[1] with over 50 million residents, centered on New York City

Greater Tokyo in Japan, the world's most populated urban area, with about 40 million inhabitants as of 2022

Greater São Paulo at night, as seen from the International Space Station

Aerial view of Greater Adelaide, the parklands serve as a barrier between the inner CBD and encompassing urban area

Warsaw metropolitan area

Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbanism, the term "urban area" contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets; in urban sociology or urban anthropology, it often contrasts with natural environment.

The development of earlier predecessors of modern urban areas during the urban revolution of the 4th millennium BCE^[3] led to the formation of human civilization and ultimately to modern urban planning, which along with other human activities such as exploitation of natural resources has led to a human impact on the environment.

Recent historical growth

Earth's land use in 2019, built-up erea being estimated as 1.5 million square kilometers.

In 1950, 764 million people or about 30 percent of the world's 2.5 billion people lived in urban areas. By 2014, it was 3.9 billion or about 53 percent of the world's 7.3 billion people that lived in urban areas. The change was driven by a combination of increased total population and increased percent of population living in urban areas.^[4] In 2009, the number of people living in urban areas (3.42 billion) surpassed the number living in rural areas (3.41 billion), and since then the world has become more urban than rural.^[5] This was the first time that the majority of the world's population lived in a city.^[6] By that time a high estimate calculated up to 3.5 million square kilometers of land were urban, estimates ranging from 1% of global land area.^[7][8] In 2014 there were 7.3 billion people living on the planet,^[9] of which the global urban population comprised 3.9 billion. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs at that time predicted the urban population would occupy 68% of the world population by 2050, with 90% of that growth coming from Africa and Asia.^[10]

Urbanization

Main article: Urbanization

Urban land area (km²), 2010^[11]

Urban areas with at least one million inhabitants in 2020

Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. They are measured for various purposes, including analyzing population density and urban sprawl. Urban areas are generally found in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Japan, Australia, and many other countries where the urbanization rate is high.

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market.

The concept of an "urban area" as used in economic statistics should not be confused with the concept of the "urban area" used in road safety statistics. This term was first created by Geographer Brian Manning. The last concept is also known as "built-up area in road safety". According to the definition by the Office for National Statistics, "Built-up areas are defined as land which is 'irreversibly urban in character', meaning that they are characteristic of a town or city. They include areas of built-up land with a minimum of 20 hectares (200,000 m²; 49 acres). Any areas [separated by] less than 200 metres [of non-urban space] are linked to become a single built-up area.^[12]

Argentina and Japan are countries where the urbanization rate is over 90% while Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and the United States are countries where the urbanization rate is between 80% and 90%, although within the U.S. state of New Jersey, the urbanization rate is 100%.^[13]

Largest urban areas

There are two measures of the degree of urbanization of a population. The first, urban population, describes the percentage of the total population living in urban areas, as defined by the country. The second measure, rate of urbanization, describes the projected average rate of change of the size of the urban population over the given period of time. According to Urbanization by sovereign state article, the world as a whole is 56.2% urbanized, with roughly one-quarter of the countries reported as greater than 80% urbanized. Data is taken from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook estimates from 2020.^[14]

See also: List of largest cities, List of largest urban areas by country, and List of largest urban areas by continent

According to Demographia, these are the 200 largest urban areas in the world by population (as of 2023):^[15]

	Urban Area	Country	Population
1	Tokyo-Yokohama	Japan	37,785,000
2	Jakarta	Indonesia	35,386,000
3	Delhi	India	31,190,000
4	Guangzhou-Foshan	China	27,119,000
5	Mumbai	India	25,189,000
6	Manila	Philippines	24,156,000
7	Shanghai	China	24,042,000
8	Seoul-Incheon	South Korea	23,225,000
9	Cairo	Egypt	22,679,000
10	Mexico City	Mexico	21,905,000
11	Kolkata	India	21,747,000
12	São Paulo	Brazil	21,486,000
13	New York	United States	21,396,000
14	Karachi	Pakistan	20,249,000
15	Dhaka	Bangladesh	19,134,000
16	Bangkok	Thailand	18,884,000
17	Beijing	China	18,883,000
18	Moscow	Russia	17,878,000
19	Shenzhen	China	17,778,000
20	Buenos Aires	Argentina	15,748,000
21	Los Angeles	United States	15,587,000
22	Johannesburg-Pretoria	South Africa	15,551,000
23	Bangalore	India	15,257,000
24	Chengdu	China	15,016,000
25	Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	14,953,000
26	Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto	Japan	14,916,000
27	Lagos	Nigeria	14,540,000
28	Istanbul	Turkey	14,441,000
29	Lahore	Pakistan	13,504,000
30	Kinshasa	Democratic Republic of the Congo	13,493,000
31	Tehran	Iran	13,382,000
32	Chongqing	China	12,653,000
33	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	12,306,000
34	Xi'an	China	12,211,000
35	Chennai	India	12,053,697
36	Paris	France	11,108,000
37	Zhengzhou	China	11,068,000
38	Luanda	Angola	10,914,000
39	London	United Kingdom	10,803,000
40	Dongguan	China	10,753,000
41	Lima	Peru	10,556,000
42	Wuhan	China	10,353,000
43	Bogota	Colombia	10,252,000
44	Tianjin	China	10,047,000
45	Hyderabad	India	9,797,000
46	Taipei	Taiwan	9,662,000
47	Hangzhou	China	9,618,000
48	Nagoya	Japan	9,439,000
49	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	9,387,000
50	Chicago	United States	8,954,000
51	Nanjing	China	8,507,000
52	Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	8,309,000
53	Shenyang-Fushun	China	8,044,000
54	Ahmadabad	India	8,006,000
55	Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	7,965,000
56	Washington-Baltimore	United States	7,853,000
57	Boston-Providence	United States	7,429,000
58	Onitsha	Nigeria	7,205,000
59	Bandung	Indonesia	7,203,000
60	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	7,185,000
61	Khartoum	Sudan	7,155,000
62	Santiago	Chile	7,099,000
63	Dallas-Fort Worth	United States	6,979,000
64	Nairobi	Kenya	6,929,000
65	San Francisco-San Jose	United States	6,844,000
66	Toronto	Canada	6,837,000
67	Pune	India	6,819,000
68	Madrid	Spain	6,798,000
69	Essen-Düsseldorf	Germany	6,769,000
70	Quanzhou	China	6,743,000
71	Houston	United States	6,703,000
72	Baghdad	Iraq	6,624,000
73	Surat	India	6,601,000
74	Amman	Jordan	6,563,000
75	Surabaya	Indonesia	6,556,000
76	Hong Kong	China	6,468,000
77	Yangon	Myanmar	6,426,000
78	Hanoi	Vietnam	6,359,000
79	Qingdao	China	6,291,000
80	Miami	United States	6,139,000
81	Suzhou	China	6,091,000
82	Singapore	Singapore	5,926,000
83	Philadelphia	United States	5,795,000
84	Accra	Ghana	5,785,000
85	St. Petersburg	Russia	5,750,000
86	Atlanta	United States	5,702,000
87	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	5,678,000
88	Kabul	Afghanistan	5,566,000
89	Alexandria	Egypt	5,552,000
90	Milan	Italy	5,471,000
91	Jiddah	Saudi Arabia	5,408,000
92	Ankara	Turkey	5,359,000
93	Faisalabad	Pakistan	5,356,000
94	Barcelona	Spain	5,317,000
95	Xiamen	China	5,253,000
96	Belo Horizonte	Brazil	5,242,000
97	Taiyuan	China	5,067,000
98	Changsha	China	5,065,000
99	Hefei	China	5,052,000
100	Mashhad	Iran	5,045,000
101	Kunming	China	4,995,000
102	Rawalpindi-Islamabad	Pakistan	4,954,000
103	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	4,945,000
104	Sydney	Australia	4,836,000
105	Kumasi	Ghana	4,794,000
106	Melbourne	Australia	4,709,000
107	Kampala	Uganda	4,679,000
108	Monterrey	Mexico	4,674,000
109	Kano	Nigeria	4,670,000
110	Lucknow	India	4,661,000
111	Yaounde	Cameroon	4,642,000
112	Phoenix	United States	4,617,000
113	Cape Town	South Africa	4,595,000
114	Ürümqi	China	4,548,000
115	Wuxi	China	4,524,000
116	Casablanca	Morocco	4,499,000
117	Fuzhou	China	4,487,000
118	Guadalajara	Mexico	4,401,000
119	İzmir	Turkey	4,367,251
120	Jaipur	India	4,360,000
121	Kanpur	India	4,350,000
122	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	4,345,000
123	Berlin	Germany	4,286,000
124	Guiyang	China	4,269,000
125	Detroit	United States	4,258,000
126	Nanchang	China	4,240,000
127	Mogadishu	Somalia	4,219,000
128	Changzhou	China	4,206,000
129	Chittagong	Bangladesh	4,204,000
130	Dalian	China	4,177,000
131	Zhongshan	China	4,113,000
132	Kuwait	Kuwait	4,066,000
133	Jinan	China	4,057,000
134	Medan	Indonesia	4,027,000
135	Wenzhou	China	4,024,000
136	Seattle	United States	4,001,000
137	Tashkent	Uzbekistan	3,935,000
138	Shijiazhuang	China	3,871,000
139	Harbin	China	3,869,000
140	Recife	Brazil	3,866,000
141	Busan	South Korea	3,843,000
142	Bamako	Mali	3,783,000
143	Indore	India	3,765,000
144	Douala	Cameroon	3,751,000
145	Montreal	Canada	3,750,000
146	Ibadan	Nigeria	3,657,000
147	Naples	Italy	3,653,000
148	Sana	Yemen	3,585,000
149	Colombo	Sri Lanka	3,532,000
150	Dakar	Senegal	3,510,000
151	Porto Alegre	Brazil	3,504,000
152	Mbuji-Mayi	Democratic Republic of the Congo	3,493,000
153	Nagpur	India	3,493,000
154	Algiers	Algeria	3,462,000
155	Durban	South Africa	3,452,000
156	Port Harcourt	Nigeria	3,429,000
157	Fortaleza	Brazil	3,415,000
158	Brasilia	Brazil	3,406,000
159	Changchun	China	3,387,000
160	Salvador	Brazil	3,344,000
161	Patna	India	3,331,000
162	Athens	Greece	3,309,000
163	Nanning	China	3,249,000
164	Kathmandu	Nepal	3,247,000
165	Medellin	Colombia	3,242,000
166	Rome	Italy	3,239,000
167	Varanasi	India	3,229,000
168	Gujranwala	Pakistan	3,218,000
169	Tampa-St. Petersburg	United States	3,203,000
170	Lusaka	Zambia	3,202,000
171	Guayaquil	Ecuador	3,183,000
172	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso	3,181,000
173	Damascus	Syria	3,155,000
174	San Diego	United States	3,078,000
175	Orlando	United States	3,075,000
176	Kozhikode	India	3,049,000
177	Brisbane-Gold Coast	Australia	3,039,000
178	Rotterdam-Hague	Netherlands	3,027,000
179	Tel Aviv	Israel	3,006,000
180	Baku	Azerbaijan	3,002,000
181	Kyiv	Ukraine	3,001,000
182	Ad-Dammam	Saudi Arabia	2,994,000
183	Lanzhou	China	2,977,000
184	Charlotte	United States	2,879,000
185	Curitiba	Brazil	2,873,000
186	Cleveland	United States	2,871,000
187	Brazzaville	Republic of the Congo	2,860,000
188	Aleppo	Syria	2,859,000
189	Thiruvananthapuram	India	2,851,000
190	Lisbon	Portugal	2,832,000
191	Minneapolis-St. Paul	United States	2,796,000
192	Campinas	Brazil	2,789,000
193	Hyderabad	Pakistan	2,789,000
194	Multan	Pakistan	2,783,000
195	Conakry	Guinea	2,781,000
196	Quito	Ecuador	2,778,000
197	Zhangjiaggang	China	2,770,000
198	Guatemala City	Guatemala	2,765,000
199	Lubumbashi	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2,750,000
200	Agra	India	2,737,000

Definitions

Presently, urban data are based on arbitrary definitions that vary from country to country and from year or census to the next, making them difficult to compare. An Urban Metric System (UMS) has been conceived that could correct the problem^[16], since it allows computing the urban area limits and central points, and it can be applied in the same way to all past, present and future population and job distributions. It is based on vector field calculations obtained by assuming that, in a given space, all inhabitants and jobs exert the same attractive force A and repulsive force R. The net force (A - R) exerted by each inhabitant or job is given by [1/(1 + d)] - [1/( β + d/2)], where d = distance and β is the only parameter. UMS distinguishes the following types of urban areas, each type corresponding to a given value of β:

	Urban area	Distance at which the attractive force = the repulsive force	Value of β
1	Central city	10 km	6
2	Agglomeration	20 km	11
3	Metropolis	40 km	21
4	Patropolis	80 km	41
5	Megalopolis	160 km	81
6	Urban system	320 km	161
7	Urban macrosystem	640 km	321
8	Continental system	1,280 km	641
9	Intercontinental system	2,560 km	1,281
10	World system	5,120 km	2,561

UMS has been applied to some Canadian cases since 2018, but the data presented in this article are still based on the various existing national definitions, which are disparate.

The UN publishes data on cities, urban areas and rural areas, but relies almost entirely on national definitions of these areas. The UN principles and recommendations state that due to different characteristics of urban and rural areas across the globe, a global definition is not possible.^[17]

European countries^[which?] define urbanized areas on the basis of urban-type land use, not allowing any gaps of typically more than 200 metres (220 yd), and use satellite imagery instead of census blocks to determine the boundaries of the urban area. In less-developed countries^[which?], 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.^{[citation needed]}

By region

East Asia

China

Main article: List of cities in China by population and built-up area

Since 2000, China's cities have expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. It is estimated that China's urban population will increase by 292 million people by 2050,^[4] when its cities will house a combined population of over one billion.^[18] The country's urbanization rate increased from 17.4% to 46.6% between 1978 and 2009.^[19] Between 150 and 200 million migrant workers work part-time in the major cities, returning home to the countryside periodically with their earnings.^[20][21]

China has more cities with one million or more long-term residents than any other country, including the three global cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai; by 2025, the country will be home to 221 cities with over a million inhabitants.^[18] The figures in the table below are from the 2008 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;^[22] the figures below include only long-term residents.

Panoramic view of Pudong's skyline from the Bund in Shanghai

v t e Largest cities or municipalities in China China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook 2020 Urban Population and Urban Temporary Population [23][note 1][note 2]
	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
Shanghai Beijing	1	Shanghai	SH	24,281,400	11	Hong Kong	HK	7,448,900	Guangzhou Shenzhen
	2	Beijing	BJ	19,164,000	12	Zhengzhou	HA	7,179,400
	3	Guangzhou	GD	13,858,700	13	Nanjing	JS	6,823,500
	4	Shenzhen	GD	13,438,800	14	Xi'an	SN	6,642,100
	5	Tianjin	TJ	11,744,400	15	Jinan	SD	6,409,600
	6	Chongqing	CQ	11,488,000	16	Shenyang	LN	5,900,000
	7	Dongguan	GD	9,752,500	17	Qingdao	SD	5,501,400
	8	Chengdu	SC	8,875,600	18	Harbin	HL	5,054,500
	9	Wuhan	HB	8,652,900	19	Hefei	AH	4,750,100
	10	Hangzhou	ZJ	8,109,000	20	Changchun	JL	4,730,900

1. Population of Hong Kong as of 2018 estimate^[24]
2. The data of Chongqing in the list is the data of "Metropolitan Developed Economic Area", which contains two parts: "City Proper" and "Metropolitan Area". The "City proper" are consist of 9 districts: Yuzhong, Dadukou, Jiangbei, Shapingba, Jiulongpo, Nan'an, Beibei, Yubei, & Banan, has the urban population of 5,646,300 as of 2018. And the "Metropolitan Area" are consist of 12 districts: Fuling, Changshou, Jiangjin, Hechuan, Yongchuan, Nanchuan, Qijiang, Dazu, Bishan, Tongliang, Tongnan, & Rongchang, has the urban population of 5,841,700.^[25] Total urban population of all 26 districts of Chongqing are up to 15,076,600.

Japan

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 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,000/sq mi).

South Korea

Seoul is the largest urban area in South Korea.

South Asia

India

Main articles: Urbanisation in India and List of cities in India by population

For the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area is a place having a minimum population of 5,000 of density 400 persons per square kilometre (1,000/sq mi) or higher, and 75% plus of the male working population employed in non-agricultural activities. Places administered by a municipal corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee are automatically considered urban areas.^[26]

The Census of India 2011 also defined the term "urban agglomeration" as an integrated urban area consisting of a core town together with its "outgrowths" (contiguous suburbs).^[27]

Largest urban agglomerations in India by population v t e (2011 census)[28][29]
	Rank	City name	State/territory	Population	Rank	City name	State/territory	Population
	1	Mumbai	Maharashtra	18,394,912	28	Ludhiana	Punjab	1,618,879
	2	Delhi	Delhi	16,349,831	29	Nashik	Maharashtra	1,562,769
	3	Kolkata	West Bengal	14,112,536	30	Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh	1,491,202
	4	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	8,696,010	31	Madurai	Tamil Nadu	1,465,625
	5	Bengaluru	Karnataka	8,520,435	32	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	1,435,113
	6	Hyderabad	Telangana	7,749,334	33	Meerut	Uttar Pradesh	1,424,908
	7	Ahmedabad	Gujarat	6,361,084	34	Faridabad	Haryana	1,414,050
	8	Pune	Maharashtra	5,057,709	35	Rajkot	Gujarat	1,390,933
	9	Surat	Gujarat	4,591,246	36	Jamshedpur	Jharkhand	1,339,438
	10	Jaipur	Rajasthan	3,073,350	37	Srinagar	Jammu and Kashmir	1,273,312
	11	Kanpur	Uttar Pradesh	2,920,496	38	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh	1,268,848
	12	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	2,902,920	39	Asansol	West Bengal	1,243,414
	13	Nagpur	Maharashtra	2,497,870	40	Vasai-Virar	Maharashtra	1,222,390
	14	Ghaziabad	Uttar Pradesh	2,375,820	41	Prayagraj	Uttar Pradesh	1,216,719
	15	Indore	Madhya Pradesh	2,170,295	42	Dhanbad	Jharkhand	1,196,214
	16	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu	2,151,466	43	Aurangabad	Maharashtra	1,193,167
	17	Kochi	Kerala	2,119,724	44	Amritsar	Punjab	1,183,705
	18	Patna	Bihar	2,049,156	45	Jodhpur	Rajasthan	1,138,300
	19	Kozhikode	Kerala	2,030,519	46	Ranchi	Jharkhand	1,126,741
	20	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	1,886,100	47	Raipur	Chhattisgarh	1,123,558
	21	Thrissur	Kerala	1,861,269	48	Kollam	Kerala	1,110,668
	22	Vadodara	Gujarat	1,822,221	49	Gwalior	Madhya Pradesh	1,102,884
	23	Agra	Uttar Pradesh	1,760,285	50	Bhilai	Chhattisgarh	1,064,222
	24	Visakhapatnam	Andhra Pradesh	1,730,320	51	Chandigarh	Chandigarh	1,026,459
	25	Malappuram	Kerala	1,699,060	52	Tiruchirappalli	Tamil Nadu	1,022,518
	26	Thiruvananthapuram	Kerala	1,687,406	53	Kota	Rajasthan	1,001,694
	27	Kannur	Kerala	1,642,892	54	Mysore	Karnataka	990,900

Pakistan

Main articles: Urbanisation in Pakistan and List of most populous cities in Pakistan

In Pakistan, an area is a major city and municipality if it has more than 100,000 inhabitants according to census results. Cities include adjacent cantonments. Urbanisation in Pakistan has increased since the time of independence and has several different causes. The majority of southern Pakistan's population lives along the Indus River. Karachi is its most populous city.^[30] In the northern half of the country, most of the population lives in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan and Peshawar. During 1990–2008, city dwellers made up 36% of Pakistan's population, making it the most urbanised nation in South Asia. Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis live in towns of 5,000 people or more.^[31] Karachi is the most populated city in Pakistan closely followed by Lahore according to the 2017 Census.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, there are total 532 urban areas, which are divided into three categories. Those are City Corporation, Municipal Corporation (Pourasova) and Upazila town. Among those urban areas, Dhaka is the largest city by population and area, with a population of 19.10 million.^[32] In Bangladesh, there are total 11 City Corporations and 329 Municipal Corporations and 203 Small towns, which serves as the center for Upazilas. According to 2011 population census, Bangladesh has an urban population of 28%, with a growth rate of 2.8%.^[33] At this growth rate, it is estimated that the urban population of Bangladesh will reach 79 million or 42% of total population by 2035.

Southeast Asia

Philippines

In 2020, 54 percent of the Philippine population lived in urban areas.^[34] With an estimated population of 16.3 million, Metro Manila is the most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines and the 11th in the world. However, the greater urban area is the 5th largest in the world with a population of 20,654,307 people (2010 estimate).^[35]

Singapore

Further information: Geography of Singapore and Planning Areas of Singapore

As an island city-state, about 5.6 million people live and work within 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi). With 64 islands and islets, Singapore Island makes up the largest urban area in the country. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the country has the highest urbanised population in Southeast Asia, with 100 percent of its population living in an urban area.^[36] The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is responsible for the urban land-use planning, which designates land use and urban density of the country.^[37] The country is divided into 5 regions for planning purposes by the URA, even though as a city state Singapore is defined as a single continuous urban area. It is further subdivided into 55 urban planning areas, which acts as the boundaries of planned towns within the country.^[38]

Vietnam

In Vietnam, there are six types of urban areas:

• Special urban area (2 municipalities): Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
• Type I urban area (18 provincial cities and 3 municipalities): Long Xuyên, Pleiku, Mỹ Tho, Thủ Dầu Một, Bắc Ninh, Biên Hòa, Hải Dương, Thanh Hóa, Hạ Long, Việt Trì, Thái Nguyên, Nam Định, Vũng Tàu, Buôn Ma Thuột, Đà Lạt, Quy Nhơn, Nha Trang, Huế, Vinh, Cần Thơ, Đà Nẵng and Hải Phòng.
• Type II urban area (21 provincial cities and 1 district):Châu Đốc, Đồng Hới, Uông Bí, Bắc Giang, Ninh Bình, Bạc Liêu, Bà Rịa, Thái Bình, Rạch Giá, Cà Mau, Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, Tuy Hòa, Phan Thiết, Vĩnh Yên, Lào Cai and Phú Quốc.
• Type III urban area (31 provincial cities and 12 towns).
• Type IV urban area (35 towns and 35 townships).
• Type V urban area (586 townships and 54 communes).

Thailand

Bangkok is the largest urban area in Thailand.

Europe

Finland

Main articles: Urban areas in Finland and List of urban areas in Finland by population

A street sign in Vimpeli indicating the beginning of an urban area in Finland

As in other Nordic countries, an urban area (taajama in Finnish) in Finland must have a building at least every 200 m (660 ft) and at least 200 people. To be considered a town or a city (kaupunki) for statistical purposes, an urban area must have at least 15,000 people. This is not to be confused with the city / town designation used by municipalities.^[39][40]

France

Main article: Functional area (France)

In France, an urban area (Fr: aire d'attraction d'une ville) is a zone encompassing an area of built-up growth (called an "urban unit" (unité urbaine)^[41] – close in definition to the North American urban area) and its commuter belt (couronne). Americans would find the INSEE definition of the urban area^[42] to be similar to their metropolitan area.

The largest cities in France, in terms of urban area population (2017), are Paris (12,628,266), Lyon (2,323,221), Marseille (1,760,653), Toulouse (1,360,829), Bordeaux (1,247,977), Lille (1,191,117), Nice (1,006,201), Nantes (972,828), Strasbourg (790,087) and Rennes (733,320).^[43]

Panorama of Paris as seen from the Eiffel Tower as full 360-degree view (river flowing from north-east to south-west, right to left)

Germany

Germany has a number of large cities. The largest conurbation is the Rhine-Ruhr region (11 million in 2008^[update]), including Düsseldorf (the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia), Cologne, Bonn, Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, and Bochum.^[44]

v t e Largest urban agglomerations in Germany Federal Statistical Office of Germany (31 December 2022)
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
Rhine-Ruhr Berlin	1	Rhine-Ruhr	North Rhine-Westphalia	11,199,073	11	Chemnitz	Saxony	867,051	Rhine-Main Stuttgart
	2	Berlin	Berlin	4,661,925	12	Hanover	Lower Saxony	807,181
	3	Rhine-Main	Hesse	3,200,201	13	Dresden	Saxony	799,317
	4	Stuttgart	Baden-Württemberg	3,044,428	14	Saar	Saarland	762,791
	5	Munich	Bavaria	2,415,964	15	Bremen	Bremen	668,074
	6	Hamburg	Hamburg	2,399,250	16	Aachen	North Rhine-Westphalia	663,371
	7	Rhine-Neckar	Baden-Württemberg	1,426,056	17	Karlsruhe	Baden-Württemberg	612,031
	8	Nuremberg	Bavaria	1,247,309	18	Augsburg	Bavaria	554,118
	9	Leipzig	Saxony	1,068,429	19	Freiburg im Breisgau	Baden-Württemberg	339,767
	10	Bielefeld	North Rhine-Westphalia	941,933	20	Kassel	Hesse	335,358

Netherlands

The Netherlands is the 30th-most densely populated country in the world, with 404.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,048/sq mi)—or 497 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,287/sq mi) if only the land area is counted. The Randstad is the country's largest conurbation located in the west of the country and contains the four largest cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. The Randstad has a population of 7 million inhabitants and is the 6th largest metropolitan area in Europe.

Norway

Main article: List of urban areas in Norway by population

Norway defines urban areas ("tettsteder") similarly to the other Nordic countries. Unlike in Denmark and Sweden, the distance between each building has to be of less than 50 m, although exceptions are made due to parks, industrial areas, rivers, and similar. Groups of houses less than 400 m from the main body of an urban area are included in the urban area.^[45]

Poland

In Poland, official "urban" population figures simply refer to those localities which have the status of towns (miasta). The "rural" population is that of all areas outside the boundaries of these towns. This distinction may give a misleading impression in some cases, since some localities with only village status may have acquired larger and denser populations than many many smaller towns^[46] with most excessive example of Poznań, most spread urban area of the country with population of the city app. 534 thousand and metropolitan area around 1 million inhabitants. On the other hand, the Katowice urban area with numerous large and medium cities covers 1,468 km and has above 2 million people. The metropolitan areas in Poland are the biggest urban zones (e.g. Katowice metropolitan area, Łódź metropolitan area and Szczecin metropolitan area) and have great impact on the rural surroundings, as it is around Lublin, Radom, Kielce, Tarnów and Białystok.

Russia

Moscow, the capital and largest city of Russia

Moscow, the capital and largest city of Russia, has a population estimated at 12.4 million residents within the city limits,^[47] while over 17 million residents in the urban area,^[48] and over 20 million residents in the Moscow Metropolitan Area.^[49] It is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely within Europe, the most populous urban area in Europe,^[48] the most populous metropolitan area in Europe,^[49] and also the largest city by land area on the European continent.^[50] Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital, is the second-largest city, with a population of roughly 5.4 million inhabitants.^[51] Other major urban areas are Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Chelyabinsk.

v t e Largest cities or towns in Russia 2024 estimate[52]
	Rank	Name	Federal subject	Pop.	Rank	Name	Federal subject	Pop.
Moscow Saint Petersburg	1	Moscow	Moscow	13,149,803	11	Rostov-on-Don	Rostov Oblast	1,140,487	Novosibirsk Yekaterinburg
	2	Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg	5,597,763	12	Krasnodar	Krasnodar Krai	1,138,654
	3	Novosibirsk	Novosibirsk Oblast	1,633,851	13	Omsk	Omsk Oblast	1,104,485
	4	Yekaterinburg	Sverdlovsk Oblast	1,536,183	14	Voronezh	Voronezh Oblast	1,046,425
	5	Kazan	Tatarstan	1,318,604	15	Perm	Perm Krai	1,026,908
	6	Krasnoyarsk	Krasnoyarsk Krai	1,205,473	16	Volgograd	Volgograd Oblast	1,018,898
	7	Nizhny Novgorod	Nizhny Novgorod Oblast	1,204,985	17	Saratov	Saratov Oblast	887,365
	8	Chelyabinsk	Chelyabinsk Oblast	1,177,058	18	Tyumen	Tyumen Oblast	861,098
	9	Ufa	Bashkortostan	1,163,304	19	Tolyatti	Samara Oblast	667,956
	10	Samara	Samara Oblast	1,158,952	20	Makhachkala	Dagestan	622,091

Spain

Spain is a very highly urbanized country. Madrid is its largest urban area. The Southern and Eastern coasts with Barcelona, Valencia and Málaga are more urbanised than the Northern and Western ones.

Sweden

Main article: List of urban areas in Sweden by population

Urban areas in Sweden (tätorter) are statistically defined localities, totally independent of the administrative subdivision of the country. There are 1,956 such localities in Sweden, with a population ranging from 200 to 1,372,000 inhabitants.^[53]

United Kingdom

Main article: List of urban areas in the United Kingdom

In 2013 the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics (ONS) published 2011 Built-up Areas – Methodology and Guidance which sets out its definition of a Built-up area (BUA) as an area of built-up land of at least 20 hectares (0.077 sq mi), separated from other settlements by at least 200 metres (660 ft). For 2011 census data there are 5,493 built-up areas, of which 501 are divided into Built-up area sub-divisions (BUASD) for which data is also available. Each built-up area is named algorithmically, using Ordnance Survey place-name data.^[54]

The ONS has produced census results from urban areas since 1951, since 1981 based upon the extent of irreversible urban development indicated on Ordnance Survey maps. The definition is an extent of at least 20 ha and at least 1,500 census residents. Separate areas are linked if less than 200 m (220 yd) apart. Included are transportation features.^[55] The UK has five Urban Areas with a population over a million and a further sixty nine with a population over one hundred thousand.

v t e Largest urban areas of the United Kingdom (England and Wales: 2011 census built-up area;[56] Scotland: 2016 estimates settlement;[57] Northern Ireland: 2001 census urban area)[58]
Rank	Urban area	Pop.	Principal settlement	Rank	Urban area	Pop.	Principal settlement
1	Greater London	9,787,426	London	11	Bristol	617,280	Bristol
2	Greater Manchester	2,553,379	Manchester	12	Edinburgh	512,150	Edinburgh
3	West Midlands	2,440,986	Birmingham	13	Leicester	508,916	Leicester
4	West Yorkshire	1,777,934	Leeds	14	Belfast	483,418	Belfast
5	Greater Glasgow	985,290	Glasgow	15	Brighton & Hove	474,485	Brighton
6	Liverpool	864,122	Liverpool	16	South East Dorset	466,266	Bournemouth
7	South Hampshire	855,569	Southampton	17	Cardiff	390,214	Cardiff
8	Tyneside	774,891	Newcastle upon Tyne	18	Teesside	376,633	Middlesbrough
9	Nottingham	729,977	Nottingham	19	Stoke-on-Trent	372,775	Stoke-on-Trent
10	Sheffield	685,368	Sheffield	20	Coventry	359,262	Coventry

Oceania

Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to urban areas as Urban Centres, which it generally defines as population clusters of 1,000 or more people.^[59] Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with more than 50% of the population residing in Australia's three biggest urban centres.^{[citation needed][59]}

Sydney is Australia's largest city, home to 5.3 million inhabitants.^[60]

v t e Largest populated areas in Australia 2021 data from Australian Bureau of Statistics[61]
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
Sydney Melbourne	1	Sydney	NSW	5,259,764	11	Geelong	Vic	289,400	Brisbane Perth
	2	Melbourne	Vic	4,976,157	12	Hobart	Tas	251,047
	3	Brisbane	Qld	2,568,927	13	Townsville	Qld	181,665
	4	Perth	WA	2,192,229	14	Cairns	Qld	155,638
	5	Adelaide	SA	1,402,393	15	Darwin	NT	148,801
	6	Gold Coast–Tweed Heads	Qld/NSW	706,673	16	Toowoomba	Qld	143,994
	7	Newcastle–Maitland	NSW	509,894	17	Ballarat	Vic	111,702
	8	Canberra–Queanbeyan	ACT/NSW	482,250	18	Bendigo	Vic	102,899
	9	Sunshine Coast	Qld	355,631	19	Albury-Wodonga	NSW/Vic	97,676
	10	Wollongong	NSW	305,880	20	Launceston	Tas	93,332

New Zealand

Main article: Urban areas of New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand defines urban areas in New Zealand, which are independent of any administrative subdivisions and have no legal basis.^[62] There are four classes of urban area: major urban areas (population 100,000+), large urban areas (population 30,000–99,999), medium urban areas (population 10,000–29,999) and small urban areas (population 1,000–9,999). As of 2021, there are 7 major urban areas, 13 large urban areas, 22 medium urban areas and 136 small urban areas. Urban areas are reclassified after each New Zealand census, so population changes between censuses does not change an urban area's classification.

v t e Largest cities or towns in New Zealand Statistics New Zealand June 2024 estimate (SSGA18 boundaries)[63]
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
Auckland Christchurch	1	Auckland	Auckland	1,531,400	11	Porirua	Wellington	60,600	Wellington Hamilton
	2	Christchurch	Canterbury	403,300	12	New Plymouth	Taranaki	60,100
	3	Wellington	Wellington	214,200	13	Rotorua	Bay of Plenty	58,800
	4	Hamilton	Waikato	192,000	14	Whangārei	Northland	56,800
	5	Tauranga	Bay of Plenty	162,800	15	Nelson	Nelson	51,300
	6	Lower Hutt	Wellington	114,500	16	Hastings	Hawke's Bay	52,200
	7	Dunedin	Otago	106,700	17	Invercargill	Southland	51,700
	8	Palmerston North	Manawatū-Whanganui	83,100	18	Upper Hutt	Wellington	45,000
	9	Napier	Hawke's Bay	67,500	19	Whanganui	Manawatū-Whanganui	42,500
	10	Hibiscus Coast	Auckland	67,800	20	Gisborne	Gisborne	38,800

North America

Canada

Main article: List of the largest population centres in Canada

According to Statistics Canada, an urban area in Canada is an area with a population of at least 1,000 people where the density is no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre (1,000/sq mi).^[64] If two or more urban areas are within 2 km (1.2 mi) of each other by road, they are merged into a single urban area, provided they do not cross census metropolitan area or census agglomeration boundaries.^[65]

In the Canada 2011 Census, Statistics Canada redesignated urban areas with the new term "population centre";^[66] the new term was chosen in order to better reflect the fact that urban vs. rural is not a strict division, but rather a continuum within which several distinct settlement patterns may exist. For example, a community may fit a strictly statistical definition of an urban area, but may not be commonly thought of as "urban" because it has a smaller population, or functions socially and economically as a suburb of another urban area rather than as a self-contained urban entity, or is geographically remote from other urban communities. Accordingly, the new definition set out three distinct types of population centres: small (population 1,000 to 29,999), medium (population 30,000 to 99,999) and large (population 100,000 or greater).^[66] Despite the change in terminology, however, the demographic definition of a population centre remains unchanged from that of an urban area: a population of at least 1,000 people where the density is no fewer than 400 persons per km².

v t e Largest metropolitan areas in Canada 2021 Canadian census[67]
Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
1	Toronto	Ontario	6,202,225	11	London	Ontario	543,551
2	Montreal	Quebec	4,291,732	12	Halifax	Nova Scotia	465,703
3	Vancouver	British Columbia	2,642,825	13	Niagara Region	Ontario	433,604
4	Ottawa–Gatineau	Ontario–Quebec	1,488,307	14	Windsor	Ontario	422,630
5	Calgary	Alberta	1,481,806	15	Oshawa	Ontario	415,311
6	Edmonton	Alberta	1,418,118	16	Victoria	British Columbia	397,237
7	Quebec City	Quebec	839,311	17	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	317,480
8	Winnipeg	Manitoba	834,678	18	Regina	Saskatchewan	249,217
9	Hamilton	Ontario	785,184	19	Sherbrooke	Quebec	227,398
10	Waterloo Region	Ontario	575,847	20	Kelowna	British Columbia	222,162

Mexico

Mexico is one of many countries where the urbanization rate is at least 80%. Mexico City, its capital, is the largest urban area in the country.

United States

Main article: List of United States urban areas

In the United States, the Census Bureau defines urban areas and delineates urban area boundaries after each census. The Bureau defines an urban area as "a statistical geographic entity consisting of a densely settled core created from census blocks and contiguous qualifying territory that together have at least 2,000 housing units or 5,000 persons."^[68] There were 2,646 urban areas identified by the Census Bureau for 2020. 511 of these had a population of 50,000 or more.^[69]

For the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the Census Bureau differentiated between two kinds of urban areas: urbanized areas and urban clusters. The term urbanized area denoted an urban area of 50,000 or more people. Urban areas under 50,000 people were called urban clusters. Urbanized areas were first delineated in the United States in the 1950 census, while urban clusters were added in the 2000 census. The distinction between urbanized areas and urban clusters was removed for the 2020 census.^[68]

Urban areas consist of a densely-settled urban core, plus surrounding developed areas that meet certain density criteria. Since urban areas are composed of census blocks and not cities, counties, or county-equivalents, urban area boundaries may consist of partial areas of these political units. Urban areas are distinguished from rural areas: any area not part of an urban area is considered to be rural by the Census Bureau.^[68]

The largest urban area in the United States is that of New York City and its surrounding suburbs. The New York–Jersey City–Newark, NY–NJ urban area had a population of 19,426,449 as of 2020, while the larger metropolitan area had a population of 20,140,470, and the combined statistical area had a population of 23,582,649. The next five largest urban areas in the U.S. are those of Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Houston, and Dallas.^[69] 80.0 percent of the population of the United States lives within the boundaries of an urban area as of the 2020 census.^[70]

The skyscrapers of New York City, the most populous city in the United States and the most populous U.S. metropolitan area, are almost all situated in Manhattan, the world's largest central business district, seen here in this panorama in February 2018, as viewed from Weehawken, New Jersey.

1. Riverside Church
2. Time Warner Center
3. 220 Central Park South
4. Central Park Tower
5. One57
6. 432 Park Avenue
7. 53W53
8. Chrysler Building
9. Bank of America Tower
10. Conde Nast Building
11. The New York Times Building
12. Empire State Building
13. Manhattan West
14. a: 55 Hudson Yards, b: 35 Hudson Yards, c: 10 Hudson Yards, d: 15 Hudson Yards
15. 56 Leonard Street
16. 8 Spruce Street
17. Woolworth Building
18. 70 Pine Street
19. 30 Park Place
20. 40 Wall Street
21. Three World Trade Center
22. Four World Trade Center
23. One World Trade Center

The concept of Urbanized Areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau is often used as a more accurate gauge of the size of a city, since in different cities and states the lines between city borders and the urbanized area of that city are often not the same. For example, the city of Greenville, South Carolina has a city population just over 68,000 and an urbanized area population of around 400,000, while Greensboro, North Carolina has a city population just over 285,000 and an urbanized area population of around 300,000 — meaning that Greenville is actually "larger" for some intents and purposes, but not for others, such as taxation, local elections, etc.

In the U.S. Department of Agriculture's natural resources inventory, urban areas are officially known as developed areas or urban and built-up areas. Such areas include cities, ethnic villages, other built-up areas of more than 10 ac (4 ha), industrial sites, railroad yards, cemeteries, airports, golf courses, shooting ranges, institutional and public administration sites, and similar areas. The 1997 national resources inventory placed over 98,000,000 ac (40,000,000 ha) in this category, an increase of 25,000,000 ac (10,000,000 ha) since 1982.^[71]

South America

Argentina

Argentina is highly urbanized.^[72] The ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population, and fewer than one in ten live in rural areas. About 3 million people live in Buenos Aires City and the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area totals around 15 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world, with a population of 18 million all up.^[73]

Córdoba has around 1.5 million people living in the urban area, while Rosario, Mendoza and Tucumán have around 1.2 million inhabitants each^[73] and La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe^[73][74] have at least 500,000 people each.

Brazil

The following paragraph is an excerpt from List of metropolitan areas in Brazil § Definitions.[edit]

In Brazil, the terms metropolitan area (Portuguese: região metropolitana) and urban agglomeration (aglomeração urbana) have specific meanings. They are defined by federal and state legislation as collections of municipalities focused on "integrating the organization, planning and execution of public functions of common interest".^[75] An integrated development area (região integrada de desenvolvimento) is one of the two above structures that crosses state (or Federal District) boundaries.

Skyline of São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil

v t e Largest urban agglomerations in Brazil 2017 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics estimates[76][77][78]
	Rank	Name	State	Pop.	Rank	Name	State	Pop.
São Paulo Rio de Janeiro	1	São Paulo	São Paulo	21,314,716	11	Belém	Pará	2,157,180
	2	Rio de Janeiro	Rio de Janeiro	12,389,775	12	Manaus	Amazonas	2,130,264
	3	Belo Horizonte	Minas Gerais	5,142,260	13	Campinas	São Paulo	2,105,600
	4	Recife	Pernambuco	4,021,641	14	Vitória	Espírito Santo	1,837,047
	5	Brasília	Federal District	3,986,425	15	Baixada Santista	São Paulo	1,702,343
	6	Porto Alegre	Rio Grande do Sul	3,894,232	16	São José dos Campos	São Paulo	1,572,943
	7	Salvador	Bahia	3,863,154	17	São Luís	Maranhão	1,421,569
	8	Fortaleza	Ceará	3,594,924	18	Natal	Rio Grande do Norte	1,349,743
	9	Curitiba	Paraná	3,387,985	19	Maceió	Alagoas	1,231,965
	10	Goiânia	Goiás	2,347,557	20	João Pessoa	Paraíba	1,168,941

Chile

Chile is highly urbanized. The largest urban area in the country is its capital, Santiago.

See also

• Developed environments
• List of largest urban areas by continent
• New Urbanism
• Surface sealing
• Urban climatology
• Urban culture
• Urban decay
• Urban exploration
• Urban forest
• Urban forestry
• Urban green space
• Urban planning
• Urban prairie
• Urban reforestation
• Urban renewal
• Urban vitality
• Urbanization

Notes

1. Also known as a built-up area or urban agglomeration.

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External links

• United Nations Statistics Division (UNSTAT): Definition of "urban"
• World Urban Areas All identified world urbanized areas 500,000+ and others: Population & Density.
• Geopolis: research group, University of Paris-Diderot, France for world urban areas
• Gridded Population of the World – contains links to urban area definitions and maps for over 230 countries/territories
• City Mayors – The World's Largest Urban Areas in 2006
• City Mayors – The World's Largest Urban Areas Projected for 2020
• PopulationData – World's largest urban areas 1,000,000+ population