Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in status and size, though not necessarily equal; a city and a substantially smaller suburb would not typically qualify, even if they were once separate. Tri-cities and quad cities are similar phenomena involving three or four municipalities.
An urban growth boundary (UGB) is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by, in its simplest form, mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for urban development and the area outside be preserved in its natural state or used for agriculture. Legislating for an urban growth boundary is one way, among many others, of managing the major challenges posed by unplanned urban growth and the encroachment of cities upon agricultural and rural land.
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national government.
Japan is divided into 47 prefectures, which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper, two urban prefectures, one regional prefecture and one metropolis. In 1868, the Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures to replace the urban and rural administrators in the parts of the country previously controlled directly by the shogunate and a few territories of rebels/shogunate loyalists who had not submitted to the new government such as Aizu/Wakamatsu. In 1871, all remaining feudal domains (han) were also transformed into prefectures, so that prefectures subdivided the whole country. In several waves of territorial consolidation, today's 47 prefectures were formed by the turn of the century. In many instances, these are contiguous with the ancient ritsuryō provinces of Japan.
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which are sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.
Haderslev Municipality is a town and municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in the Region of Southern Denmark. It includes the island of Årø as well as several other smaller islands in the Little Belt. The municipality covers 701.98 km2 (271 sq mi) and has a population of 55,438 (2024). Its mayor is Mads Skau, representing the Venstre political party. Following the Kommunalreformen, Haderslev municipality was merged on 1 January that year with the former municipalities of Gram and Vojens, as well as Bjerning, Hjerndrup, and Fjelstrup parishes of Christiansfeld Municipality and Bevtoft parish of Nørre Rangstrup Municipality.
The municipalities represent the local level of administration in Finland and act as the fundamental, self-governing administrative units of the country. The entire country is incorporated into municipalities and legally, all municipalities are equal, although certain municipalities are called cities or towns. Municipalities have the right to levy a flat percentual income tax, which is between 16 and 22 percent, and they provide two thirds of public services. Municipalities control many community services, such as schools, health care and the water supply, and local streets. They do not maintain highways, set laws or keep police forces, which are responsibilities of the central government.
A green belt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which have a linear character and may run through an urban area instead of around it. In essence, a green belt is an invisible line designating a border around a certain area, preventing development of the area and allowing wildlife to return and be established.
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cases, a conurbation is a polycentric urbanised area in which transportation has developed to link areas. They create a single urban labour market or travel to work area.
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which were starting to urbanize rapidly after World War II. It was commonly referred to as "Metro Toronto" or "Metro".
The East Rand is a major urban area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the urban eastern part of Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Springs in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes the towns of Bedfordview, Benoni, Boksburg, Brakpan, Edenvale, Germiston, Kempton Park, Linksfield and Modderfontein. The East Rand is known as the transport hub of Johannesburg and includes Africa's largest and second busiest airport, OR Tambo International Airport.
Kolding Municipality is a kommune in the Region of Southern Denmark on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in southeast Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 640 km2, and has a total population of 94,932 (2024). Its mayor is Knud Erik Langhoff, a member of the Conservative People's Party. The main city and the site of its municipal council is the seaport city of Kolding, the eighth largest city in Denmark.
The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of 4,772,846.
A merger, consolidation or amalgamation, in a political or administrative sense, is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities, such as municipalities, counties, districts, etc., into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity.
The San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area, most commonly known as the San Juan metropolitan area, is the largest and most populous metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Puerto Rico, concentrated in the capital municipality of San Juan and surrounding municipalities, including Bayamón, Caguas, and Carolina, on the northeastern coastal plain of the main island. One of 6 metropolitan statistical areas in Puerto Rico, it lies within the San Juan–Bayamón combined statistical area (CSA), which is one of 3 primary statistical areas in the main island as defined by the United States Census Bureau. As of 2023, census estimates place the population of the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area at 2,035,733.
The San Germán–Cabo Rojo Metropolitan Statistical Area was a United States Census Bureau defined Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in southwestern Puerto Rico. A July 1, 2009 Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 148,559, a 9.06% increase over the 2000 census figure of 136,212.
The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is one of the largest urban areas in Europe.
A city of regional significance in Ukraine was a type of second-level administrative division or municipality, the other type being raions (districts). In the first-level division of oblasts, they were referred to as cities of oblast significance; in the first-level autonomous republic of Crimea, they were cities of republican significance. The designation was created with the introduction of oblasts in 1932. It was abolished in a 2020 reform that merged raions together and integrated the city municipalities into them.
The 2016 South African municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It was the fifth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994; municipal elections are held every five years.
Vaikkadu, is an industrial area in Manali, North of Chennai, a metropolitan city in Tamil Nadu, India. Vaikkadu is known for Manali Roundana, place where Tiruvottiyur-Ponneri high road intersects with originating Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Manali High road. Madras Fertilizer Limited and Toshiba JSW Power Systems Pvt. Ltd are notable companies located within Vaikkadu in Manali Industrial belt. In October 2011, the erstwhile Manali municipality is merged with Greater Chennai Corporation and it came under the jurisdiction of Greater Chennai Corporation. Though Vaikkadu is annexed with Greater Chennai Corporation it is still remained as a part of Tiruvottiyur taluk in Tiruvallur district.
