A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area. In most cases, a conurbation is a polycentric urban agglomeration, in which transportation has developed to link areas to create a single urban labour market or travel to work area.^[1]

The term "conurbation" was coined as a neologism in 1915 by Patrick Geddes in his book Cities In Evolution. He drew attention to the ability of the (then) new technology of electric power and motorised transport to allow cities to spread and agglomerate together, and gave as examples "Midlandton" in England, the Ruhr in Germany, and New York-Boston in the USA.^[2]

A conurbation can be confused with a metropolitan area. As the term is used in North America, a metropolitan area can be defined by the Census Bureau or it may consist of a central city and its suburbs, while a conurbation consists of adjacent metropolitan areas that are connected with one another by urbanization.^{[clarification needed]}^{[citation needed]} Internationally, the term "urban agglomeration" is often used to convey a similar meaning to "conurbation".^{[clarification needed]}^[3] A conurbation should also be contrasted with a megalopolis, where the urban areas are close but not physically contiguous and where the merging of labour markets has not yet developed.

Examples of Conurbations:

Canada

The "Golden Horseshoe" is a densely populated and industrialized region centred around the west end of Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada. Most of it is also part of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. With a population of 8.1 million people, it makes up slightly over a quarter (25.6%) of the population of Canada and contains approximately 75% of Ontario's population,^[4] making it one of the largest population concentrations in North America. Although it is a geographically named sub-region of Southern Ontario, "Greater Golden Horseshoe" is more frequently used today to describe the metropolitan regions that stretch across the area in totality.

India

New Delhi NCR (National Capital Region)

The National Capital Region (NCR - the Tri-State Region) is a name for the conurbation or metropolitan area which encompasses the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi as well as urban areas ringing it in neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. With a total area of about 33,578 km2 (12,965 sq mi), it is the world's largest urban agglomeration. with an estimated population of 21,961,994 in 2007.

Four states are participant in National Capital Region (NCR) of India. These are -

Area-wise contribution of participating states in the NCR.
State	Area Contributed
NCT Delhi	1,483 km² (573 sq mi)
Uttar Pradesh	10,853 km² (4,190 sq mi)
Haryana	13,413 km² (5,179 sq mi)
Rajasthan	7,829 km² (3,023 sq mi)

NCT Delhi

The National Capital Territory of Delhi lies central to the National Capital Region. It includes the city of Delhi and New Delhi, the seat of India's central government. This region has largest concentration of population in whole of the NCR. The population of Delhi as of 2001 census is 13,782,976 persons, population in 2007 was around 17 million.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh (UP) is a major contributor in the NCR and is one the maximum expansionary mode. It bounds Delhi on the east and forms eastern territory of the NCR. The districts of the state included in NCR are :-

Gautam Buddha Nagar District (Noida and Greater Noida) (12.02 lakh)^[5](a new airport to shed the load of IGI, New Delhi is also coming up in Greater Noida)
Ghaziabad (33.14 lakh)^[6]
Bulandshahr^[7]
Meerut^[8]
Hapur

Haryana

Bounding Delhi on west, north and south Haryana contributes largest area, 13,413 km² (5,179 sq mi), to the National Capital Region and forms its western and northern territory. The districts of the state included in NCR are :-

Gurgaon 1.7 million (17 lakh)^[9]
Manesar^[10]
Pataudi^[11]
Rewari^[12]
Bawal^[13]
Faridabad (13.64 lakh)^[14]
Kosli

Rajasthan

Rajasthan lies to the south-west of Delhi. Though it does not share boundary with Delhi but still it is integral part of the NCR and forms its south-western core.

Alwar^[15]
Bhiwadi Industrail Town^[16]

Greater Mumbai

The traditionally separate metropolitan areas of Mumbai and Thane, in Maharashtra have shared suburbs and a continuous urbanization between the two central cities .

United Kingdom

Industrial and housing growth in the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries produced many conurbations. Greater London is by far the largest urban area and is usually counted as a conurbation in statistical terms, but differs from the others in the degree to which it is focused on a single central area.^[3] In the mid-1950s the Green Belt was introduced to stem the further urbanisation of the countryside in England. Note that as used in the United Kingdom, the term "conurbation" is closer to the meaning of urban agglomeration.

The list below shows the most populous urban areas in the UK as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). (It should be noted that the Greater London Urban Area contains the whole of what is commonly called London, but ONS definitions divide London into a large number of smaller localities of which the largest is Croydon.)

Rank	Urban Area^[17]	Population (2001 Census)^[17]	Localities^[18]^[19]	Area (km²)^[17]	Density (People/km²)^[17]	Major localities^[18]^[19]
1	Greater London Urban Area	8,278,251	67	1,623.37	5,099.4	Croydon, Barnet, Ealing, Bromley
2	West Midlands Urban Area	2,284,093	22	599.72	3,808.6	Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall
3	Greater Manchester Urban Area	2,240,230	57	556.72	4,024.0	Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury
4	West Yorkshire Urban Area	1,499,465	26	370.02	4,052.4	Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield
5	Greater Glasgow	1,199,629	48	368.47	3,171.0	Glasgow, Paisley, Coatbridge, Clydebank, Bearsden, Milngavie, Motherwell
6	Tyneside Urban Area	879,996	25	210.91	4,172.4	Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Gosforth, South Shields, Felling, Whickham

United States of America

^{[clarification needed]}

New York Tri-State Area

One example of a conurbation is the expansive concept of the New York metropolitan area (the Tri-State Region) centered around New York City, including 30 counties spread between New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, with an estimated population of 21,961,994 in 2007.^[20] Approximately 1 out of 15 U.S. residents live in the Greater New York City area. This conurbation is the result of several central cities whose urban areas have merged together.

San Francisco Bay Area

Another conurbation is the combination of the metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose and several minor urban centers, known as the San Francisco Bay Area.

Greater Los Angeles Area

The Greater Los Angeles Area consists of the merging of several distinct central cities, including Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Riverside, and San Bernardino.

Baltimore-Washington Area

The traditionally separate metropolitan areas of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. have shared suburbs and a continuous urbanization between the two central cities (Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area).

Randstad, The Netherlands

The Randstad, which is a densely populated area in the Netherlands consisting of a cluster of the four biggest cities of the country and several smaller cities, towns and urbanized villages, is another appropriate example of a conurbation. The Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium, by contrast, is an agglomeration centered on one city.

Górnośląski Związek Metropolitalny

Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia (Górnośląski Związek Metropolitalny) is the biggest conurbation in Poland, located in Upper Silesia, southern Poland. In GOP lives around 2 million people, which makes 5.26% of population of Poland.

Rhine-Ruhr, Germany

The Rhine-Ruhr is a densly populated polycentric metropolitan region in the western part of Germany, comprising the three subregions of Ruhr Metropolitan Region, Düsseldorf-Mönchengladbach-Wuppertal Region and Cologne/Bonn Metropolitan Region. These three are all interlinked by a continuous urban settlement, while at the same time having different cultural and economic agendas.

References

^ conurbation â€“ Dictionary Definition of conurbation | Encyclopedia.com: FREE Online Dictionary
^ Peter Hall, Cities of Tomorrow, 2002, ISBN 0631232524
^ ^a ^b Vision of Britain article on use of this and similar terms
^ "Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006: Subprovincial population dynamics, Greater Golden Horseshoe". Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population. 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
^ Welcome to the Gautam Budh Nagar Website
^ indexprof
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://www.ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ Gurgaon can now go up and up-Delhi-Cities-The Times of India
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://faridabad.nic.in/census.htm
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ http://ncrup.up.nic.in/ncr/coverage.htm
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The UK’s major urban areas Office for National Statistics
^ ^a ^b KS01 Usual resident population Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas Office for National Statistics
^ ^a ^b KS01 Usual resident population, Key Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland General Register Office for Scotland
^ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-05-26.

Conurbation