IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v112y2022ics0264837721005457.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the spectrum of urban area key figures using data from Finland and proposing guidelines for delineation of urban areas

Author

Listed:
  • Vanhatalo, Jaana
  • Partanen, Jenni

Abstract

Urban area definitions are commonly used worldwide to reflect countries’ urban population percentages. The measurements are based on local factors and differ widely across countries, making them non-comparable. This is well acknowledged among specialists; however, they are commonly used in everyday practice as universal measurements, and even compared with each other. The problem is that we do not know the degree of error in such comparisons. For this purpose, in the study presented here we analysed and categorised different European national urban area definitions, testing them in the case of Finland. Definitions from 27 European countries were divided into two main categories according to the end result areal unit of the definition and further into seven subcategories based on the criteria used. Thirteen different definitions in the case of Finland were tested using spatial analyses with GIS. The results indicate that urban population percentage varies widely according to different definitions, making their comparability infeasible. The difference is even greater in the case of urban area ratio and population densities of urban areas between the two main categories. The results prove that definitions based on LAU areas cannot illustrate urban areas and their densities coherently. In light of a literature review on certain relational urban area delineation methods and the case study, desirable characteristics for the delineation of urban areas were highlighted. Consequently, a constant, structured evaluation of urbanity measurements and their underlying logic is necessary to enable unambiguous discourse on urban area in urban sciences. The results could help in formulating the applicability of the concept of urban area in scientific and popular communication and media.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanhatalo, Jaana & Partanen, Jenni, 2022. "Exploring the spectrum of urban area key figures using data from Finland and proposing guidelines for delineation of urban areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0264837721005457
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837721005457
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105822?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arribas-Bel, Daniel & Garcia-López, M.-À. & Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2021. "Building(s and) cities: Delineating urban areas with a machine learning algorithm," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    2. de Bellefon, Marie-Pierre & Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles & Gobillon, Laurent & Gorin, Clément, 2021. "Delineating urban areas using building density," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Hans Thor Andersen & Lasse Møller-Jensen & Sten Engelstoft, 2011. "The End of Urbanization? Towards a New Urban Concept or Rethinking Urbanization," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 595-611, April.
    4. Luc‐Normand Tellier & Jérémy Gelb, 2018. "An urban metric system based on space‐economy: Foundations and implementation," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), pages 145-160, August.
    5. Satterthwaite, David, 2010. "Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin them," WIDER Working Paper Series 028, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Francisco Javier Abarca-Alvarez & Francisco Sergio Campos-Sánchez & Fernando Osuna-Pérez, 2019. "Urban Shape and Built Density Metrics through the Analysis of European Urban Fabrics Using Artificial Intelligence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-23, November.
    7. Graeme Hugo & Anthony Champion & Alfredo Lattes, 2003. "Toward a New Conceptualization of Settlements for Demography," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 29(2), pages 277-297, June.
    8. David Satterthwaite, 2010. "Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin Them," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-028, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Arriaga, Eduardo E, 1970. "A New Approach to the Measurements of Urbanization," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 206-218, January.
    10. Ying Long & Yao Shen & Xiaobin Jin, 2016. "Mapping Block-Level Urban Areas for All Chinese Cities," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(1), pages 96-113, January.
    11. Cohen, Barney, 2004. "Urban Growth in Developing Countries: A Review of Current Trends and a Caution Regarding Existing Forecasts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 23-51, January.
    12. Francesco Pagliacci, 2017. "Measuring EU Urban-Rural Continuum Through Fuzzy Logic," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 108(2), pages 157-174, April.
    13. Pengfei Ban & Wei Zhan & Qifeng Yuan & Xiaojian Li, 2021. "Delineating the Urban Areas of a Cross-Boundary City with Open-Access Data: Guangzhou–Foshan, South China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, March.
    14. A. G. Makhrova & R. A. Babkin, 2020. "Methodological Approaches to the Delimitation of the Boundaries of the Moscow Agglomeration Based on Data from Mobile Network Operators," Regional Research of Russia, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 373-380, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dijkstra, Lewis & Florczyk, Aneta J. & Freire, Sergio & Kemper, Thomas & Melchiorri, Michele & Pesaresi, Martino & Schiavina, Marcello, 2021. "Applying the Degree of Urbanisation to the globe: A new harmonised definition reveals a different picture of global urbanisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    2. Potts, Deborah, 2012. "Challenging the Myths of Urban Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence from Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1382-1393.
    3. Pengfei Ban & Wei Zhan & Qifeng Yuan & Xiaojian Li, 2021. "Delineating the Urban Areas of a Cross-Boundary City with Open-Access Data: Guangzhou–Foshan, South China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Deborah Potts, 2018. "Urban data and definitions in sub-Saharan Africa: Mismatches between the pace of urbanisation and employment and livelihood change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(5), pages 965-986, April.
    5. van Duijne, Robbin Jan, 2019. "Why India’s urbanization is hidden: Observations from “rural” Bihar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Morgan Ubeda, 2020. "Local Amenities, Commuting Costs and Income Disparities Within Cities," Working Papers halshs-03082448, HAL.
    7. Marco Stampini & Marcos Robles & Mayra Sáenz & Pablo Ibarrarán & Nadin Medellín, 2016. "Poverty, vulnerability, and the middle class in Latin America," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 25(1), pages 1-44, December.
    8. Potts, Deborah, 2017. "Conflict and Collisions in Sub-Saharan African Urban Definitions: Interpreting Recent Urbanization Data From Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 67-78.
    9. Anima Gupta, 2014. "Measuring Urbanization around a Regional Capital: The Case of Bhopal District," Working Papers id:5716, eSocialSciences.
    10. Duncan A Smith, 2017. "World city populations 1950–2030: Proportional circle time series map," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(1), pages 3-5, January.
    11. Dubé, Jean & Dieng, Ousmane & Lévesque, Mathieu & Racine, Antoine & Roberge, Olivier & Trapé, Thibault, 2023. "How public policies and other events can shape spatial distribution of local activities over time? An investigation based on spatial micro-data," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    12. Hiroyuki Usui, 2023. "Cost-Efficient Urban Areas Minimising the Connection Costs of Buildings by Roads: Simultaneous Optimisation of Criteria for Building Interval and Built Cluster Size," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 65-96, March.
    13. Evelyne Lazaro & Jytte Agergaard & Marianne Nylandsted Larsen & Jeremia Makindara & Torben Birch-Thomsen, 2019. "Urbanisation in Rural Regions: The Emergence of Urban Centres in Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(1), pages 72-94, January.
    14. Henderson, J. Vernon & Roberts, Mark & Storeygard, Adam, 2013. "Is urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa different ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6481, The World Bank.
    15. Gaëtan Montero & Geoffrey Caruso & Mohamed Hilal & Isabelle Thomas, 2023. "A partition-free spatial clustering that preserves topology: application to built-up density," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 5-35, January.
    16. Stephan Heblich & David Krisztián Nagy & Alex Trew & Yanos Zylberberg, 2023. "The death and life of great British cities," Economics Working Papers 1867, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    17. Ivan Turok, 2013. "Securing the resurgence of African cities," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(2), pages 142-157, March.
    18. Salvati, Luca, 2020. "Residential mobility and the local context: Comparing long-term and short-term spatial trends of population movements in Greece," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. de Bellefon, Marie-Pierre & Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles & Gobillon, Laurent & Gorin, Clément, 2021. "Delineating urban areas using building density," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    20. Wang, Bo & Li, Fan & Feng, Shuyi & Shen, Tong, 2020. "Transfer of development rights, farmland preservation, and economic growth: a case study of Chongqing’s land quotas trading program," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0264837721005457. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.