Defining urban areas, some case studies in Finland

1. Defining urban areas,some case studies in Finland Nordic Forum for Geostatistics Sinikka LaurilaStatistics Finland26.3.2004

2. Definitions from ... • National Land Survey • Finnish Environment Institute • Technical Research Center of Finland • Statistics Finland • Conclusions - some issues in developing delineation

3. National Land Survey - in large scale maps:base map, land use mapdelineation based on satellite maps, built-up-areas and otheravailable map data - in small scale maps:from scale 1:250 000 onwards delineation based on building coordinates method grid-buffer method (grid size 25mx25m)localities, when at least 180 inhabitants - no nomenclature (codes or names)

6. National Land Survey... - functionality: mainly cartographic elements or delineating ”tightly” populated areas - no statistics included

7. Finnish Environment Institute - grid based method - data aggregated in the center of a 250m x 250m grid - preconditions: the grid contains at least 50 buildings and the aggregate area of the buildings is at least 1 500 square meters - the part of water areas is added to grids - update interval 3 to 5 years

8. Finnish Environment Institute ... - The System for Monitoring the communities - development of community indicators comparable in space and time using grid data- monitoring the inside structure and structural changes in locality areas - statistical grid data (125mx125m) from 3 km buffers of the locality centers - the system is used by 13 local offices

10. Settlement Structure of the Bothnian Arc Area

11. Source: Finnish Environment Center, 2003

12. A Closer Zooming to Border Between Two Countries

13. Source: Finnish Environment Center, 2003

14. SO: Finnish datasets were adapted to Swedish coordinate system

15. Results: The population density of densely populated areas in Sweden is almost double compared to Finland 70 % of the population live on the 10 km wide coastal zone Source: Finnish Environment Center, 2003

16. Technical Research Center of Finland - based on building coordinates- building coordinates are converted to triangles- the size of the triangle page is flexible (for instance 200 m)- triangles are converted to areas, which are buffered by 50 m - grid data, point data (population, buildings, employment etc.) - a very accurate delineation

18. Technical Research Center of Finland ... - monitoring and describing communities and regional structures- tools provided (mainly usable in MapInfo/Vertical Mapper): monitoring built-up areas commuting urban and rural areas traffic streames in commuting urban areas - aimed for: regional planners researchers decision making procesesses in regional planning

21. and Statistics Finland

22. Background Localities 5.2 mil. inhabitants 1.3 mil. buildings 305 000 km2 land area Built up areas Uninhabited 1 4 0 0 km Lakes About 17 people per km2 Share of total land area for localities about 2.5 650 km

23. At least 200 residents Distance between buildings max 200 meters Continuous area Do not restrict any administrative area Requirementsand bases for the delineation method The definition of localities Buildings • Location x,y • The use of building • The number of residents

24. Buffering points Gridding and buffering The development of the delineation methodTwo different methods

25. Localities 2000

26. The time series: 1990,1995 and 2000 The Oulu region 1990 2000 The density of population 812 as./km² The density of population 906 as./km²

29. Conclusions - present definition provides aggregate locality statistics- unable to describe the structure or deveplopment (functionality) in localities (”urban areas”)- factors that determine urban areas besides population or buildings employment commuting municipal infrastructure supply of services ...

30. Thank You !