When doing a large and comprehensive list of provinces (and districts, or sub-provinces) in the world, it’s not always possible to know the precise level of urbanization in a given region. While it doesn’t necessarily help with computing the growth of urbanization, one way to address this is to at least describe the area with an urbanization index. Here’s the index I’m fiddling with right now:
0 = P<10K. Very rural, pop. on farms and small villages 1 = U<10K, P>10k. Mostly rural, but some larger townships. 2 = %<50, U>10K, P>10K. Over half rural, several towns (<10k), at least one city with population over 10k and under 100k 3 = %>50, OR U>100K, P>100K. Under half rural, more/most concentrated in towns, and/or a city of 100,000 or more 4 = %>50, U>500K, P>500K. At least one 500k city 5 = U>1MM. At least one city with a population around or greater than 1 million 6 = U>2MM. More than one “megacity” (1 million+), many small towns, few rural dwellers, more than 60% in towns/cities 7 = %>75, U>5MM. Over 75% in urban regions with several megacities and a total metro area of at least 5 million 8 = %>90, U>5MM. Over 90% urbanites (basically whole district is an urban area), a city of at least 5 million 9 = %>90, U>10MM. A city of at least 10 million