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Which Are The Largest? Why Lists Of Major Urban Areas Vary So Greatly

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  • RICHARD L. FORSTALL
  • RICHARD P. GREENE
  • JAMES B. PICK

Abstract

Lists of the world's most populous urban areas are surprisingly inconsistent in standard reference sources. These even disagree about which area is the world's largest. We first review the differences found in lists of the 20 largest areas reported by several unofficial sources and by the United Nations. We then demonstrate that variations in the populations and rankings stem mostly from differences in concepts and geographic definitions, and identify six different types of definition in the UN's list. We also offer a set of consistently defined metropolitan areas based on stated guidelines. Case studies for Tokyo, Mexico City, Los Angeles and Beijing include maps to elucidate the administrative areas and statistical definitions in use in each of these urban areas, and illustrate how the varying definitions yield different population totals. We conclude by comparing our consistently defined metropolitan areas with the UN's list of largest urban agglomerations.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard L. Forstall & Richard P. Greene & James B. Pick, 2009. "Which Are The Largest? Why Lists Of Major Urban Areas Vary So Greatly," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 100(3), pages 277-297, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:tvecsg:v:100:y:2009:i:3:p:277-297
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2009.00537.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Goodkind & Loraine A. West, 2002. "China's Floating Population: Definitions, Data and Recent Findings," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(12), pages 2237-2250, November.
    2. Zai Liang & Zhongdong Ma, 2004. "China's Floating Population: New Evidence from the 2000 Census," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 467-488, September.
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    Cited by:

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    2. TABUCHI Takatoshi, 2012. "Does New Economic Geography Faithfully Describe Reality?," Discussion papers 12071, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Qin, Bo & Zhang, Yu, 2014. "Note on urbanization in China: Urban definitions and census data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 495-502.
    4. Jingbin Wang & Huiling Qiao & Jing Liu & Bo Li, 2022. "Does the Establishment of National New Areas Improve Urban Ecological Efficiency? Empirical Evidence Based on Staggered DID Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-21, October.
    5. Pascal Neis & Dennis Zielstra & Alexander Zipf, 2013. "Comparison of Volunteered Geographic Information Data Contributions and Community Development for Selected World Regions," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Bowen Xiang & Rushuang Chen & Gaofeng Xu, 2022. "Uncovering Network Heterogeneity of China’s Three Major Urban Agglomerations from Hybrid Space Perspective-Based on TikTok Check-In Records," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Luederitz, Christopher & Brink, Ebba & Gralla, Fabienne & Hermelingmeier, Verena & Meyer, Moritz & Niven, Lisa & Panzer, Lars & Partelow, Stefan & Rau, Anna-Lena & Sasaki, Ryuei & Abson, David J. & La, 2015. "A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 98-112.
    8. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 2014. "Historical trends of agglomeration to the capital region and new economic geography," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 50-59.
    9. Mike Coombes, 2014. "From City-region Concept to Boundaries for Governance: The English Case," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(11), pages 2426-2443, August.

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