Metropolitan areas are bigger than the city proper, and can be as big as urban agglomeration, but distinct. Metropolitan area defines its boundaries according to the degree of economic and social interconnectedness of nearby areas, identified by interlinked commerce or commuting patterns, for example.Urban agglomeration considers the extent of the contiguous urban area, or built-up area, to delineate the city’s boundaries and is therefore bigger than the city proper ( ibid.).City proper describes a city according to an administrative boundary ( ibid.).Urban-to-urban migration, rural-to-rural migration, rural-to-urban migration, and urban-to-rural migration: These types of migration refer to the movement of people from one urban or rural area to a different urban or rural area. These types of migration may happen within a national border or involve crossing an international boundary (IOM Glossary, 2011).Ĭity is also difficult to define because what constitutes an urban settlement varies and there are no standardized international criteria for determining the city ( UN DESA, 2018). Multiple boundary definitions can exist for any given city. Urban growth comes from demographic growth and international and internal migration ( IOM, 2015). It is defined as “the increase in the proportion of the urban population over time as part of the whole population. Urban growth is the increase in the absolute number of people living within defined urban areas. Urban growth can take place without any urbanization if urban and rural areas are both growing at the same rate.
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Urban population growth is often confused with urbanization but is a distinct concept.
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“Very often, urbanization is primarily the result of migration” ( IOM, 2015).
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Urban is problematic to define and no single globally accepted definition of what constitutes an urban settlement exists. The list below is not an exhaustive list: These key concepts and definitions are important to understanding urbanization and migration. However, these data are not always available or – if available – not used or accessible at the urban level, nor disaggregated, comprehensive or comparable, particularly in low-income countries.ĭata could improve urban planning and delivery of public services, as well as help measure progress toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to cities and migration, implement the Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees, which emphasize the role of cities as stakeholders in migration, and fulfill migration-related commitments in the UN Habitat’s New Urban Agenda. Increasingly, municipal authorities are becoming recognized as key actors in managing migration and have started including migration in their urban planning and implementation.įor cities to better manage migration, data on migration and urbanization are essential. Migration, whether internal or international, has always been one of the forces driving the growth of urbanization and bringing opportunities and challenges to cities, migrants and governments.