Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) in the European Union.html
 
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Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, has created the concept of Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) in an effort to harmonise definitions of urbanisation in the European Union and in countries outside the European Union (such as Turkey).1 These definitions were agreed between Eurostat and the National Statistics Offices of the different countries of the European Union at the occasion of the European Commission's Urban Audit of 2004.2 LUZs have been criticised for their insufficient harmonisation of data, which are still collected by national governments within local administrative units, making it sometimes difficult to compare LUZs from different countries. In 2006, about a third of the LUZ definitions were changed, significantly improving the comparability of LUZ definitions across different countries. The latest round of the Urban Audit also added cities from candidate countries and EFTA countries.

Contents

Eurostat's urban definitions

The list below shows the population sizes of cities in the European Union as well as candidate countries and non-EU EFTA countries. The list is limited to those cities whose Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) have populations of at least 1 million. The LUZ represents an attempt at a harmonised definition of the metropolitan area. Eurostat's objective was to have an area from a significant share of the resident commute into the city, a concept known as the "functional urban region." To ensure a good data availability, Eurostat adjusts the LUZ boundaries to administrative boundaries that approximate the functional urban region.

Ranking methodology

The list below contains the cities in the European Union and associated countries that participated in the third round of the Urban Audit programme. The cities are ranked by the size of the population of the Larger Urban Zone. The figures in the Eurostat database are an attempt at a compromise between harmonised data for all of the European Union, and with availability of statistical data, making comparisons more accurate. The data used is from the 2006 Urban Audit III, which uses information collected for 2004.3

List of LUZs by population (EU + EFTA + Turkey)

Rank City name Country LUZ population LUZ area (km²)
1 London  United Kingdom 11,917,000 8,9204
2 Istanbul  Turkey 11,154,928
3 Paris  France 11,089,124 12,0804
4 Madrid  Spain 5,804,829 8,022
5 Ruhr Area  Germany 5,302,179 4,435
6 Berlin  Germany 4,971,331 17,385
7 Barcelona  Spain 4,233,638 1,797
8 Athens  Greece 4,013,368 3,807
9 Ankara  Turkey 3,736,359
10 Rome  Italy 3,457,690 3,667
11 Hamburg  Germany 3,134,620 7,304
12 Milan  Italy 3,076,643 1,348
13 Upper Silesian Industrial Region  Poland 2,710,397 2,651
14 Stuttgart  Germany 2,663,660 3,654
15 Warsaw  Poland 2,660,406 5,199
16 Manchester  United Kingdom 2,539,100 1,280
17 Munich  Germany 2,531,706 5,504
18 Frankfurt  Germany 2,517,561 4,305
19 Izmir  Turkey 2,459,474
20 Lisbon  Portugal 2,435,837 1,432
21 Budapest  Hungary 2,393,846 2,5384
22 Leeds - Bradford  United Kingdom 2,393,300 5,1144
23 Birmingham  United Kingdom 2,357,100 1,598
24 Naples  Italy 2,253,964 565
25 Vienna  Austria 2,179,769 4,6114
26 Bucharest  Romania 2,140,194 662
27 Prague  Czech Republic 1,964,750 6,9774
28 Cologne  Germany 1,873,580 1,626
29 Stockholm  Sweden 1,860,872 6,519
30 Copenhagen  Denmark 1,806,6674 2,7594
31 Brussels  Belgium 1,800,663 1,614
32 Glasgow  United Kingdom 1,747,100 3,346
33 Turin  Italy 1,745,221 1,879
34 Lyon  France 1,717,300 5,9984
35 Valencia  Spain 1,564,145 1,441
36 Dublin  Republic of Ireland 1,535,4464
37 Düsseldorf  Germany 1,525,029 1,201
38 Bursa  Turkey 1,474,482
39 Amsterdam  Netherlands 1,443,258 859
40 Adana  Turkey 1,394,130
41 Liverpool  United Kingdom 1,365,900 821
42 Bielefeld  Germany 1,297,876 2,921
43 Hanover  Germany 1,294,447 2,966
44 Nuremberg  Germany 1,288,797 2,934
45 Sheffield  United Kingdom 1,277,100 1,846
46 Kraków  Poland 1,264,322 2,989
47 Sofia  Bulgaria 1,263,8074 3,4244
48 Seville  Spain 1,249,346 3,082
49 Bremen  Germany 1,249,291 5,885
50 Helsinki  Finland 1,224,107 2,970
51 Rotterdam  Netherlands 1,186,818 612
52 Łódź  Poland 1,163,516 2,858
53 Ostrava  Czech Republic 1,153,876 3,8964
54 Zurich  Switzerland 1,110,478 1,086
55 Tricity  Poland 1,105,203 3,457
56 Porto  Portugal 1,099,040 562
57 Oslo  Norway 1,090,513 6,920
58 Newcastle upon Tyne  United Kingdom 1,055,600 3,385
59 Gaziantep  Turkey 1,052,795
60 Tolouse  France 1,052,497 4,7074
61 Wrocław  Poland 1,031,439 4,582
62 Poznań  Poland 1,018,511 3,719
63 Bristol  United Kingdom 1,006,600 1,635
64 Riga  Latvia 1,003,949 5,383

Urban Audit

Eurostat's Urban Audit is about much more than demographics. In order for it to be useful as a policy tool to the European Commission and other authorities it contains data for over 250 indicators across the following domains:5

  • Demography
  • Social Aspects
  • Economic Aspects
  • Civic Involvement
  • Training and Education
  • Environment
  • Travel and Transport
  • Information Society
  • Culture and Recreation

References

  1. ^ "What is the Urban Audit?". Eurostat (2006).
  2. ^ "The shift of Eurostat to Urban Statistics", Dr. Berthold Feldmann, Eurostat (March 2006). 
  3. ^ Urban Audit Database
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Data for 2001 (2004 data not yet available)
  5. ^ "Urban Audit", European Commission (2006). 

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