Functional urban area

History

The definition was introduced under the name Larger urban zone (LUZ) in 2004 by Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union (EU), in agreement with the national statistics offices in the member states. Eurostat data is provided only for zones in the EU countries, candidate countries and EFTA countries. Several cities were excluded by definition from the 2004 list of LUZs on technical, definitional grounds, such as the coincidence of the metropolitan area with the urban zone.

In 2006 LUZ definitions were changed significantly, improving the comparability of LUZ definitions across different countries, and allowing for almost all cities to be included.

In 2011, the European Commission has developed a new definition of LUZ in cooperation with the OECD. The term Larger urban zone (LUZ) was later renamed as the Functional urban area (FUA).

In 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank have also adopted the Functional urban area as their definition for delimitation of metropolitan areas.

List of functional urban areas by population as of 2017

This is a list of functional urban areas by population as of 2017. The 2004 Urban Audit also includes cities from EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and EU candidate countries, although the only candidate country for which there is available data is Turkey. Some cities, including Marseille, Lille, Nice, Cordoba, Badajoz, Toulon and Montpellier were excluded from the 2004 list on technical, definitional grounds, such as the coincidence of the metropolitan area with the urban zone.

List of functional urban areas

This is a list of functional urban areas. The Urban Audit also includes cities from EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and EU candidate countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) uses a similar definition of Functional Urban Area to represent population sizes of cities in OECD countries. This data is also included.

The figures in the Eurostat database are an attempt at a compromise between harmonised data for all of the European Union, and with availability of statistical data, making comparisons more accurate.

Notes

References

References

1. "Territorial typologies manual - cities, commuting zones and functional urban areas". [[Eurostat]].
2. [http://www.eurometrex.org/Docs/METRO-D/7B-Position-on-Cohesion.pdf Position Statement on Cohesion Policy 2014–2020] {{Webarchive. link. (2 July 2015 , EuroMETREX. Retrieved 2 July 2015.)
3. "European cities – the EU-OECD functional urban area definition". [[Eurostat]].
4. European Union/FAO/UN-Habitat/OECD/The World Bank. (2021). "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation — A methodological manual to define cities, towns and rural areas for international comparisons — 2021 edition". Publications Office of the European Union.
5. "What is the Urban Audit?".
6. "Territorial typologies manual - cities, commuting zones and functional urban areas". [[Eurostat]].
7. (2006). "City statistics – Urban audit". Eurostat.
8. (March 2006). "The shift of Eurostat to Urban Statistics". Dr. Berthold Feldmann, Eurostat.
9. "Résumé statistique (Marseille-Aix-en-Provence)".
10. link
11. link
12. Lewis Dijkstra, Hugo Poelman. (2012-03-01). "Cities in Europe - The new OECD-EC definition".
13. European Union/FAO/UN-Habitat/OECD/The World Bank. (2021). "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation — A methodological manual to define cities, towns and rural areas for international comparisons — 2021 edition". Publications Office of the European Union.
14. Data for 2001 (2004 data not yet available)
15. "OECD Populations in cities". OECD.
16. "Urban Audit Database". Urbanaudit.org.
17. [[European Spatial Planning Observation Network]], [http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/Documents/Projects/ESPON2006Projects/StudiesScientificSupportProjects/UrbanFunctions/fr-1.4.3_April2007-final.pdf Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)] {{webarchive. link. (24 September 2015 , Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007))
18. (August 2022)