The Delineation of Metropolitan Areas in the United States and Canada and Its Implication for China

As centuries old administrative areas cannot reflect the structure of changing urban areas, most developed countries delineate metropolitan areas that are independent of administrative ones to solve this problem. The metropolitan area is an area containing a population nucleus and adjacent areas that have a high degree of social and economic relations with that nucleus, it is also a center where people and economic activities concentrate. This paper provides a detailed introduction to the history, delineation standards, current state and functions of metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada. China is in the process of rapid urbanization, the structure of urban areas is changing quickly, it is urgent for China to delineate metropolitan areas for statistical and analytical purposes.