Measuring Sustainable Development Goals in cities, towns and rural areas: The new Degree of Urbanisation1

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals include a range of indicators that incorporate measurements for cities and urban and rural areas. Whereas the methodology for the indicators is harmonised, the definition of urban and rural areas were not National definitions of urban and rural areas differ significantly and make them unsuitable for international comparisons. In 2020, the UN Statistical Commission endorsed a harmonised definition of cities, towns and rural areas for international comparison, called the Degree of Urbanisation. This new method based on a population grid allows for a harmonised comparison of urbanisation across the globe. First estimates indicate that national definitions in several African and Asian countries show substantially higher rural population shares as compared to the harmonised definition. By contrast, rural population shares based on national definitions in Europe and the Americas tend to be similar of lower as compared to the harmonised definition. Comparing the population in large cities based on national definitions and the Degree of Urbanisation reveals a high level of agreement.