Abstract

The Philippines had adopted various definitions of urban areas and the latest was that of the 1970 version. Based on the present definition, sometimes an area was classified as urban but the population per se may be in a more rural environmental condition than those classified as rural areas. Because of the shortcomings of the present definition, this study was undertaken to come up with an urban redefinition which was simple and operational in administration, that is, classification of barangays would not be based from separate data gathering operations but from the regular census results. The study made use of multivariate analysis using the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. Cluster and exploratory data analyses were applied to 22 variables as taken mostly from the major census information items. On the basis of the results of this study, the following criteria in identifying urban areas in the Philippines were given as the 1995 proposed definition: (a) A city/municipality is to be considered as urban in its entirety if it has a population of at least 80,000, or a population density of at least 4,000 (the National Capital Region is considered as entirely urban); and (b) A barangay in a city or municipality not classified as urban in the first criterion is to be considered as urban if it has a population of at least 7,000, or if it is a poblacion or central district of a city or provincial capital.