Urban area
An urban area is an area where many people live and work close together. The population density is higher than in the surrounding area. It is where buildings are close together. Urban is the opposite of rural, where farm lands and nature are. Urban areas are usually cities and towns. Most of the work available in urban areas is factory and office work. Agricultural work is rare because buildings are close together and there is no space for farm lands.
There are different urban area definitions for each country. The definitions mostly depend on how populated the country is and if the definition shows a true percentage of how urbanized the country is. For example, in Poland an urban area is any place that has the status of a town, whereas in China it is any district, city, or town with a population density higher than 1500 people per square kilometer. The urban population definition for Canadian and Scandinavian countries depends on density. If there is a house every 200 meters it is classified as urban.
A large urban area, with all connected areas (usually developed around some city) is called a Metropolitan area.
Urban Area Media
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
Greater Melbourne at night, as seen from the International Space Station
Earth's land use in 2019, built-up erea being estimated as 1.5 million square kilometers.
Urban land area (km2), 2010
Urban areas with at least one million inhabitants in 2006
A street sign in Vimpeli indicating the beginning of an urban area in Finland
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Related pages
- List of largest cities (includes a list of urban areas)
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