Some terns and definition about GIS terms used in town planning.

1. Atiqa Ijaz Khan
M.PHIL. GEOMATICS | GIS ANALYST
MONDAY, 20 MAY, 2019

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1. City.................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1. De jure:.................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2. De facto:.................................................................................................................................. 2
2. Village and Town............................................................................................................................2
3. Urban And Rural Area....................................................................................................................2
3.1. Suburb................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4. Metropolis and Megalopolis ...........................................................................................................2
5. World Wide Lists............................................................................................................................4
5.1. World Atlas............................................................................................................................. 4
5.2. World Heritage Encyclopedia.................................................................................................4
References............................................................................................................................................... 5

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URBAN VISION FOR TOMORROW
1. VILLAGE AND TOWN
According to National Geographic Organization, a town is larger than a village but smaller than city. It
usually has 2500-20,000 population. They may have their own local government culture and connected
to main roads to other cities around it. It may had grown very rapidly due to economic activities.
While village is a small human settlement within a rural area (see: URBAN AND RURAL AREA)
2. CITY
A city is a large settlement with a high population and historic bounds. It is often a permanent
settlement. By Merriam-Webster, “city is an inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance
than a town or village”. In UN terms, mega cities have population of 10 million or more. According to
Mumford, “a city is a social theater”. In UK, “city is characterized by a cathedral”. It has two type of
definitions:
2.1. DE JURE
The large extent of historic city, with its clear administrative boundaries.
2.2. DE FACTO
It corresponds to economic agglomeration defined by morphological (builtup space) or functional (labor
force market) area.
3. MUNICIPALITY
It is completely different from the metropolitan. It is defined by the political boundaries. It does not
always have the urban portion. It may include urban and rural areas.
4. METROPOLIS AND MEGALOPOLIS
Metropolitan is a hub of a city, due to economic, commerce, political and international advancements.
It may have independent administration, but not always. It is mainly defined by the labor force market.
It is an urban agglomeration with international status in one or more aspects like economy, industry,
culture, or even crime. According to Heinz Rief, 2006, metropolis has:
• Large population in several millions
• Wealth structure
• National and international centrality

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• High immigration rate.
According to National Geographic Organization, “when two or more metropolitan grows until they
merge, they form a megalopolis”. It is also knowns as “Conurbation”.
5. URBAN AND RURAL AREA
The “urban” is an adjective. It is used in context with city. The actual area defined by buildings and
infrastructure, that describes the characteristics of a city. It has no relation with government or political
boundaries. But, generally, it lies within the boundary of a particular city. People living in urban areas
have non-agriculture jobs. It is the illuminated area seen in satellite imagery in the night time, said to
be as “urban footprint”, against the rural portion of a country. It is a “continuously builtup land mass
of urban development that is within the labor market of metropolitan region”. Every country has its own
criteria for the definition an urban city:
• Some uses population density as a sole source or in conjunction with other parameters. 101 out of
232 countries uses population context in direct or indirect way.
• According to World Bank Report 2009, urban area definition uses population along with the access
of road.
“Exurban” area lie outside the principal urban area, including both rural and urban parts. “Suburbs” are
less populated areas surrounding by the urban areas. It lies outside the main part of the city. It turns out
to be in connected with the main city as the urbanization trends within the city tends to grow with time.
It is also said to be “urban agglomeration” (cluster) or “urbanized area”. They are distinguishable on
the basis of medium level infrastructure, vehicle count, planning and development. They are as
“outskirts” of the city. Sometimes, “slums’ becomes a part of suburb areas. While, slums are mostly
with inadequate services for living.
While urbanization, is the process by which “rural areas turn into urban areas due to urban sprawl,
better economic opportunities and higher population growth”. It can be planned, but mostly

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spontaneous. Rural areas are underdeveloped with low population density. It is also known as
“country”.
6. WORLD WIDE LISTS OF POPULOUS COUNTRIES AND CITIES
6.1. WORLD ATLAS
According to World Atlas™, Lahore lies on 34th
position with population of 10,052,000 in the list of
world largest cities:
Rank City / Urban Area Country Population
1 Tokyo–Yokohama Japan 37843000
2 Jakarta (Jabodetabek) Indonesia 30539000
3 Delhi India 24998000
4 Manila (Metro Manila) Philippines 24123000
5 Seoul–Gyeonggi–Incheon (Sudogwon) South Korea 23480000
6 Shanghai China 23416000
7 Karachi Pakistan 22123000
8 Beijing China 21009000
9 New York City United States of America 20630000
10 Guangzhou–Foshan (Guangfo) China 20597000
6.2. WORLD HERITAGE ENCYCLOPEDIA
According to World Heritage Encyclopedia™ under CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribute-
ShareAlike License) 3.0:
Rank City Province Population (2010 est.)
1 Karachi Sindh 13,205,330
2 Lahore Punjab 7,129,609
3 Faisalabad Punjab 2,880,675
4 Rawalpindi Punjab 1,991,656
5 Multan Punjab 1,606,481
6 Hyderabad Sindh 1,578,367
7 Gujranwala Punjab 1,569,090
8 Peshawar Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) 1,439,205
9 Quetta Balochistan 896,090
10 Islamabad Capital Territory 689,249

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REFERENCES
1. http://gutenberg.us/articles/list_of_most_populated_metropolitan_areas_in_pakistan
2. http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm
3. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/city
4. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2009/urbanization.aspx
5. https://www.reference.com/geography/difference-between-town-city-3fac131a417e7a77#
6. http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/12/03/000333038_2008
1203234958/Rendered/PDF/437380REVISED01BLIC1097808213760720.pdf
7. http://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/what-does-urban-mean
8. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-in-meaning-between-city-and-urban
9. http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/urban-area/
10. http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/sec_geography/resources/metro
polises/conceptsmetropole.html
11. http://languagelearningbase.com/87791/metropolis-city-town-village-hamlet-whats-the-difference
12. http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/studies/pdf/citiesoftomorrow/citiesoftomorr
ow_final.pdf
13. http://www.ourcommonfuture.de/fileadmin/user_upload/dateien/Reden/Kreibich_Session11_Ope
ning_Notes.pdf
14.