This dataset provides indicators of population density and built-up area in FUAs and cities.
Data sources and methodology
FUA and city surfaces are calculated from FUA and city shapefiles, using GIS tools. Built-up data uses GHSL built-up surface grids (European Commission, GHSL Data Package 2023). Population counts are extracted from the Population by age and sex - FUAs and cities dataset. GHSL is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (100 m), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators on built-up areas.
These estimates may differ from official subnational built-up statistics due to differences in methodologies, such as top down remote-sensing based estimations versus bottom up cadastral or administrative data, along with differences in satellite imagery sources, spatial resolution, and model accuracy used to detect and classify built up areas.
Defining FUAs and cities
The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns (OECD, 2012). FUAs consist of:
- A city – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city.
- A commuting zone – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city.
The delineation process includes:
- Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA.
- Excluding non-contiguous municipalities.
The definition identifies 1 285 FUAs and 1 402 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries.
Cite this dataset
OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs), http://oe.cd/geostats
Further information
For questions and/or comments, please email [email protected]