• Fried_out_Kombi@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The urban area is what people refer to as Paris. A good comparison is Los Angeles. Lots of people say they “live in LA” but in fact live in Santa Monica or Long Beach or Pasadena or any of a million other suburbs that together form the Los Angeles urban area.

    When people say they live in Paris, 99% of the time they’re not talking about the arbitrary municipal boundaries; they’re talking about the urban area.

    When people say they live in LA, 99% of the time they’re talking about the urban area.

    When people say they live in Buenos Aires, 99% of the time they’re talking about the urban area.

    When people say they live in Tokyo, 99% of the time they’re talking about the urban area.

    “Urban area” is simply a term meant to capture what people mean when they refer to a city, unrestricted by the arbitrariness of municipal boundaries.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Those aren’t good comparisons though. You cannot compare cities between them because that’s not how cities work.