Background

1. United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Statistical Methodology for Delineating Cities and Rural Areas Srdjan Mrkić United Nations Statistics Division

2. Background • Historically – a number of efforts aimed at developing an international definition and classification of urban and rural areas for the purpose of official statistics • Currently national definitions of urban areas differ significantly • Criteria vary from: • Physical – for example built-up areas (100 or more constructions less than 200 meters from one another – Algeria) • Industry – Agglomeration of 5,000 or more where 75% of economic activity is non-agricultural • Administrative – Administrative centers of the communes (Haiti) • Infrastructure – Areas with a population 2,000 or more that have transport systems, build-up areas, industrial/manufacturing structure … (Kenya) • Density – Localities of 2,000 or more inhabitants (Ethiopia) • Combination – An administrative division with more than 15,000 population, engaging mainly in industrial and other economic and social activities which include administrative and cultural centers (Azerbaijan)

3. Background • Comparison at the regional and global level is difficult to achieve • Resulting in different estimates of urban population worldwide • Reviving the need for discussion initiated by the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and accompanying goals, targets and indicators and other UN programmes • Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable • 2020 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses – major recommendation refers to the production of geo-referenced small are census statistics • UN Population Division’s estimates and projections

4. Background • In 2017 UNSD was approached by the European Commission and Eurostat with a proposal to assess the applicability of the methodology for delineating urban and rural areas - developed by EC and partners -for international and regional comparison purposes and possible use by national statistical authorities • Consequently, UNSD launched a survey sampling fifteen countries regarding the applicability of the methodology at the national level • The survey questionnaire was accompanied by a link to a website displaying the application of the methodology for every country

5. Survey results • In summary • In the majority of responding countries, population density, by itself, is not used to define urban and rural areas • When it is used, population size/population density is combined with other criteria • When it is used the thresholds are different from the ones proposed in the EC methodology • Some of the comments from responding countries refer to the fact that the proposed method would overestimate “urban” in countries with high population density, and underestimate “urban” in countries with low or very low population density; missing entire cities; many cases of urban areas classified as rural; rural areas classified as urban; i.e. considerable degrees of incompatibility with national considerations and urban/rural classifications • A number of countries also concluded that it would be possible for them to implement the EC methodology although it would differ from the national definitions • The 49th session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2018 featured a side event devoted to the results and further activities

6. Further development • One of the 49th UN Statistical Commission conclusions reads: • Welcomed the work of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Agricultural and Rural Statistics, in partnership with the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank, on developing an international and integrated definition of urban and rural areas, and supported the proposal to submit this definition for discussion at the fiftieth session of the Commission, in 2019

7. Purpose of the EGM • The purpose of the expert group meeting is to discuss, in detail, the following points • Assess the technical comprehensiveness of the methodology as developed by European Commission and partners • Assess the applicability of the parameters for delineation of urban and rural areas in terms of levels of density • Assess the employment of the methodology in national circumstances through the presentation and elaboration of national practices and examples • Elaborate on the suitability of submitting the proposed methodology to the United Nations Statistical Commission for discussion and possible recommendation for the purpose of achieving regional and international comparison and harmonization of urban and rural areas and their statistics