The Barcelona urban area is an

urban area 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 ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) centered on the city of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and located less than 100 km south of the border with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the

Mediterranean coast The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the eas ...

, and one of the largest in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Overview

The

– the core of the metropolitan area – of Barcelona has a population of 4,604,000, being the fifth-most populous urban area in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

after

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, the

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. The

Larger Urban Zone The larger urban zone (LUZ), or functional urban area (FUA), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zone outside it. The ...

has a population of 4,440,629 according to Eurostat. As stated by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, the metropolitan area of Barcelona has a population of 5,083,000, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development it has a population of 4,900,000 and according to the Eurostat it has a population of 5,375,774. According to ''Idescat'' it has a population of 5,029,181,Àmbit Metropolità. Sèrie temporal
according to ''BlatantWorld.com'' it has a population of 4,992,778 and according to ''World Gazetteer'' it has a population of 5,068,252.

The Zones

* First Zone: consists of other municipalities (outside Barcelona) in an official union of adjacent cities and municipalities called the

Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona The Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB; "Metropolitan Area of Barcelona") is a public body operating on the principle of metropolitan authority. It is composed of representatives of Barcelona and 36 adjacent municipalities accounting for a ...

(AMB) (also ''Greater Barcelona'') with a population of 3,220,071 in area of 636 km² (density 5,010 hab/km²). * Second Zone: considered as urban and metropolitan adjacent area. It forms a belt of cities:

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf '' comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically a fishing port, the city has a growing population of approximately 66,000, and is situated 40 km south-west of ...

Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish spelling of the name, ''Villafranca del Panadés'', is no longer in official use since 1982 (Law 12/1982, of ...

Martorell Martorell () is a municipality that forms part of the Baix Llobregat comarca, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Devil's bridge. It lies at the confluence of the Llobregat and Anoia rivers. It has three railway stations - on ...

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, '' comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ...

, Sabadell,

Granollers Granollers () is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from a t ...

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and ...

and their respective areas of influence. The

Generalitat Generalitat (, literally in English 'Generality') is the name of two major medieval and early modern political institutions and their modern-day analogues in Kingdom of Spain. The ancient Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Valencia were ...

projects the interconnection by means the

Orbital Railway Line The Barcelona orbital line ( ca, línia orbital) is a railway project forming part of both the ''Pla d'infraestructures de Catalunya'' (PITC),Catalonia infrastructure plan a long-term development plan due for completion in 2026, and the ''Pla de ...

. * Third Zone: considered territory of consolidated expansion. In this one the expansion passes to be of radial type, spreading across fluvial corridors or depressions, as in case of Manresa,

Igualada Igualada () is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of th ...

and Vic, or continuing the coast, as in case of

Blanes Blanes () is a town and municipality in the comarca of Selva in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. During Roman rule it was named Blanda or Blandae. It is known as the "Gateway to the Costa Brava". Its coast is part of the Costa Brava, which stretches ...

and

El Vendrell El Vendrell () is a town located in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, in the wine-growing region of Penedès. It is wedged between the Mediterranean and the coastal range. El Vendrell is the capital of the Baix Penedès '' comarca'' an ...

Polynuclear Urban Region

According to the EURBANET project by

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

it speaks about ''polynuclear urban region'' when there exists a series of important urban centers that relate intensely among them and to the exterior. This one is the case of bordering zones to the urban region that they extend around the cities of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

and

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

. They are areas with a great economic dependence and services to the capital. They are narrow corridors well communicated to Barcelona, both by highway and railroad, which there fuse the metropolitan areas of these cities with the urban region. The PUR of Barcelona comprises 6,103,221 people in an area of 6,005 km². Barcelona Polynuclear Urban Region is conceived as "''isolated islands of significant growth''" which, may develop into zones of global economic integration. This is, however, not intended to happen at the cost of the global competitive position of the present core area.EURBANET: Introduction Theoretical Framework
-

Overview

The Zones

Polynuclear Urban Region

Municipalities of metropolitan area - population and area

First zone

Second zone

Third zone

Municipalities of Polynuclear Urban Region - population and area

Tarragona area

Girona area

See also

References