Dept of Urban and Regional Planning
Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka
Urban
areas are
not easy to define. We cannot assume that one particular area is rural and
another is urban, as individuals have their own definitions. For example, a row
of shops in a rural village may be considered to be urban to
local farmers. Whereas others may see an urban area as a place with many
mixed-use buildings and with a high population density.
Urban
or Urban Area
From
general point of view we can say that the term Urban or Urban Area means an
environment in which natural surroundings have been dominated by artificial or
man made surroundings, which man builds for himself – for his living working
and recreation.
According
to John R. Weeks in “Population an Introduction to Concepts and Issues”- An
urban place can be defined as a spatial concentration of people whose live are
organized around non-agricultural activities; the essential character here is
that urban means non-agriculture.
How
does the Census Bureau define urban area?
The
Census Bureau's urban-rural classification is fundamentally a delineation of
geographical areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas
of the nation. The Census Bureau's urban areas represent densely developed
territory, and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential
urban land uses. For the 2010 Census, an urban area will comprise a densely
settled core of census tracts and/or census blocks that meet minimum population
density requirements, along with adjacent territory containing non-residential
urban land uses as well as territory with low population density included to
link outlying densely settled territory with the densely settled core. To
qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must
encompass at least 2,500 people, at least 1,500 of which reside outside
institutional group quarters.
The
Census Bureau identifies two types of urban areas:
·
Urbanized Areas (UAs) of 50,000 or more
people;
·
Urban Clusters (UCs) of at least 2,500
and less than 50,000 people.
According to Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS) population census 2001-
Urban
area recognized as developed areas around an identifiable central place where-
·
Amenities like metalled roads, community facilities, electricity,
gas, water supply, sewerage, sanitation etc usually exist.
·
Which are densely populated and majority of the population are
non- agriculture dependent and
·
Where community sense is well developed.
According to
Pourashava ordinance 2009-
An area can be defined as urban
if-
v
¾ of the adult male population of the area are engaged in
non-agricultural activities
v
2.33% land will be used for non-agricultural purpose
v
Population not less than 50000
v
Average density of population not less than1500 per sq. km.
Definition of urban area in international arena
Definitions
vary somewhat between nations. European countries define urbanized areas on the
basis of urban-type land use, not allowing any gaps of typically more than 200
m, and use satellite imagery instead of census blocks to determine the
boundaries of the urban area. 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.
Australia
In Australia, urban areas are referred to as "urban
centres" and are defined as population clusters of 1000 or more people,
with a density of at least 200/km2.
China
In China, an
urban area is an urban district, city and town with a population density higher
than 1,500/km2. As for urban districts with a population density
lower than that number, only the population that lives in streets, town sites,
and adjacent villages is counted as urban population.
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).
United States
In United States, Urban
area means agglomerations
of 2 500 or more inhabitants, generally having population densities of 1 000
persons per square mile or more. Two types of urban areas: urbanized areas of
50 000 or more inhabitants and urban clusters of at least 2 500 and less than
50 000 inhabitants.
India
Towns (places with
municipal corporation, municipal area committee, town committee, notified area
committee or cantonment board); also, all places having 5 000 or more
inhabitants, a density of not less than 1 000 persons per square mile or 400
per square kilometre, pronounced urban characteristics and at least three
fourths of the adult male population employed in pursuits other than
agriculture.
Canada
Places of 1 000 or more
inhabitants, having a population density of 400 or more per square kilometer.
Netherlands
Urban: Municipalities with
a population of 2 000 and more inhabitants. Semi-urban: Municipalities with a
population of less than 2 000 but with not more than 20 per cent of their
economically active male population engaged in agriculture, and specific
residential municipalities of commuters.
Switzerland
Communes of 10 000 or more inhabitants, including suburbs.
Brazil
Urban and suburban zones of
administrative centres of municipalities and districts.
Summarized
concept:
In
a very general term, an urban area is a geographical area constituting a city
or town. But the term urban “urban area” is typically used as a synonym for
“city” though the two are not the same. All cities are urban areas, but not all
urban areas are cities. Urban is a statistical concept defined by a country’s
government. In many countries, the definition is based on a threshold number of
inhabitants; when the population of a region exceeds a certain threshold that
the region is considered urban. This threshold ranges from a few hundred, as in
Peru and Uganda, to more than 10000, as in Italy and Senegal. Other governments
base their definition on a combination criterion, such as population density,
political function or predominant activity of the region.
No comments:
Post a Comment