Chapter 1

"Urban" settlements vary greatly from one country to the next. In the United States, our definition comes from the Bureau of the Census. To them, the term urban applies to the territory, population and housing units within urbanized areas and urban clusters. Below I will list a few terms and definitions to help with the understanding urban settlements.

Urbanized Area - densely settled area with at least 50,000 people and a density of at least 1,000 people per square mile at the urban core and 500 people per square mile in the surrounding territory

Urban Cluster - an urban core with a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile and at least 500 people per square mile in the surrounding territory that together create a population of 2,500 people but less than 50,000

It wasn't until 1950 that the Bureau of Census began to use standardized defintions. There term has changed 3 times since then. In 1950 it was called stantard metropolitan area. In 1960 it changed to standard metropolitan statistical area and in 1983 it changed to metropolitan statistical area. The expansion of large neighboring metropolitan areas led to another term being adopted. In 1990 the term metropolitan area was adopted. In 2000, the term core based statistical area became effective. With continual growth here in US cities, there is a constant need for new terms, ideas and theories to be adopted especially with urbanization being studied more.

Urbanization has a great affect on not only individuals but on the economy and the country as a whole. Urbanization is seen as a process which has an impact on everyone from those living in the large cities to those living on farms. It affects people, jobs, land, government. There are demographic changes, cultural changes, economic changes, social changes, technological changes, environmental changes and the list goes on. Urbanization is something that effects everyone and if for one minute you don't believe that, you are seriously mistaken.