1. Implementation of the Revised "Degree of Urbanisation" Classification
E4 – Regional Statistics and Geographical Information
Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

2. Degree of urbanisation: background
New DEGURBA introduced in 2011
Increased reliability, comparability and availability
Three types of areas:
Thinly populated area (rural area)
Intermediate density area (towns and suburbs / small urban area)
Densely populated area (cities, large urban area)
Classification used to build territorial aggregates that complement NUTS
e.g. Labour Market, EU-SILC, Tourism
Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

3. Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

4. Updating the classification
Coordination and implementation of updates by Eurostat unit E4
LAU changes (see guidelines by DG Regio)
Merging LAUs
Boundary shifts
Splitting LAUs
Population grid
Recalculation of DEGURBA every four/five years
Complete population grid based on 2011 Censuses available in 2014
Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012

5. Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012
State of play
2011 tables mapping LAU units with the three degrees of urbanisation available for EU-27, IS, NO, CH and HR
In 2012, NSIs were asked to include the DEGURBA classification in their transmission of LAU lists
11 countries have sent 2012 LAU list so far
See guidelines in case of LAU changes
Please report any problems to Eurostat
See RAMON server for updates:
Working Party on Regional Statistics 1-2 October 2012