Urban Area (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what an urban area is, what urban life is like and its economic activities. Also differences with a rural area.

urban area city — The urban area is the characteristic space of the contemporary human being.

What is an urban area?

An urban area, urban space, urban environment or urban center is called the landscapes of the cities in opposition to rural areas, in which agricultural activity is carried out, or also to peri-urban areas, which are the bordering space between the first two. However, it is not always easy to clearly distinguish one from the other, given that over time the rural world has become urbanized in some way.

Urban spaces are defined through a functional logic, that is, economic, since The secondary -industrial- sector and the service sector predominate in them instead of the primary sector, as in rural areas.

Furthermore, they are spaces of great population concentration, in which all types of constructions and infrastructures are carried out, becoming the typical, characteristic space of contemporary human beings. Furthermore, that is where political power comes from, since It is where most of the institutions of a country are based.

Urban areas flourished hand in hand with industrialization and capitalism, so they have not always existed as they do today, nor have they been the center of importance of our society. In fact, the medieval world was, for almost 15 centuries, an eminently agrarian world.

Today, however, cities occupy less than 3% of the planet's total surface, but consume around 60 to 70% of the natural and energy resources available to humanity.

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Features of urban life

Life in the urban area is characterized, broadly speaking, by the following:

Predominance of the industrial financial year: the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy (manufacturing and services). Raw materials and food, on the other hand, usually come from outside.
A huge population concentration whose upper limits are constituted by large megalopolises with more than 10,000,000 inhabitants. On the other hand, there is no fixed limit regarding how many residents are necessary for a settlement to be considered an urban area.
Most basic services and administrative and/or bureaucratic entities of the State are present in urban areas. are the logistical heart of the State.
The rhythms of life are usually frenetic, as well as the movement of public transport, and life happens in smaller spaces with relatively low presence of vegetation.
In the urban area, the costs of living are almost always higher, It can vary significantly from one city to another, or from one city to the countryside. Especially in real estate.

Economic activities in the urban area

industrial urban area — Urban industries are only light or medium.

The economy of urban areas revolves around industry and commerce, with a notable predominance, as we said before, of the manufacturing and service economic sectors. Raw materials and energy, on the other hand, usually come from outside, so that cities become more or less dependent systems. The most characteristic economic activities of urban spaces are:

industrial production especially with regard to light and medium industries, given that the level of pollution of basic or heavy industries is usually incompatible with the population density of cities. Thus, it is common to find industries dedicated to: paper manufacturing and book printing, auto parts assembly, electronic device manufacturing, textile manufacturing or packaging of substances and foods.
The construction one of the key sectors for the growth of the urban area, which takes the basic materials from heavy industry and with them builds houses, buildings or facilities intended for commerce, production or also public works: highways, bridges, squares, etc
Wholesale and retail trade whether of products manufactured in the city itself (or in others) or coming from agriculture, which are received and offered to a consuming public through a network of establishments and stores of different nature, or supplied to the establishments of the services sector. This is the case of hardware stores, bookstores, supermarkets, paint stores, etc.
The tertiary or service sector which does not offer processed products but rather specific activities that end in themselves and in their consumption. This is the case of restaurants, consulting companies, travel agencies, electricity, telephone, cable TV or Internet services, and also urban or interurban public transportation services.

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Difference between urban area and rural area

The differences between the urban area and the rural area, that is, between the city and the countryside, can be summarized as:

urban area	Rural area
High population density, reaching several million inhabitants per city.	Low population density, since the inhabitants live distanced from each other and outdoors.
Easy and quick access to services, State institutions and commercial or distribution networks (ports, airports, etc.).	Greater degree of relative isolation with respect to the bureaucratic core of the State and the main commercial networks.
High level of industrialization, with greater pollution and frenetic lifestyle.	Low level of industrialization, with lower margins of pollution and a more peaceful life.
High demand for land that raises real estate prices and maximizes the use of space.	Low demand for land to live in, which moderates real estate prices as there is more space available.
Predominance of the secondary and tertiary economic sectors.	Predominance of the primary economic sector, agriculture or basic industries.

Urban migrations

Urban migrations are the movements of residents that occur between one city and another, or those that occur from rural areas and cities (rural-urban migration).

Both are a common phenomenon in the contemporary industrial world, and had their beginning in the great exodus from agriculture to the city that led the modern world with the beginning of industrial capitalism: millions of peasants abandoned their rural homes and moved to the cities, where they gave rise to the working class (proletariat).

The migrations are a usual part of urban life, and can occur between different countries different regions of the same country or even between different sectors of the same urban area (from the suburbs to the center, for example).