Metropolitan Areas in
Colombia are officially designated administrative and
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
areas, composed of an
urban center
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
and its associated
Municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
Description
The following criteria must be met for a group of communities to be designated a Metropolitan Area:
* Each one of the Municipalities, the secondary cities as well as the central city, must have a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants.
* The secondary cities must integrate their city planning with that of the central city.
* At least two-thirds of those employed in the area must perform non-rural activities.
* Each of the secondary cities must have at least 10% of their workers employed in the central city.
Commuting
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...
to work is, in fact, the major characteristic of a Metropolitan Area. As a result, the secondary cities are often called "dormitory cities"; meaning places where the inhabitants only go home to sleep.
An important function of the Metropolitan Areas is to provide for joint planning between the Municipalities, thereby managing ordered and proportional economic growth according to the necessities of the area and the physical characteristics of each Municipality.
Metropolitan Areas
The following are currently (2007) recognized by the Colombian government:
External links
Se consolidan en el país las áreas metropolitanas PORTAFOLIO, 15 de Junio de 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metropolitan Areas Of Colombia
Subdivisions of Colombia