The 2010 division into urban units: urban space expanded 19% in a decade

In ten years, the surface area of urban space in metropolitan France (mainland + Corsica) grew 19%. Towns and cities now occupy 22% of the nation's territory and are home to 47.9 million people, or 77.5% of the total population. New small urban units have appeared, and the boundaries of certain large urban units have widened. The Paris agglomeration has 10.3 million inhabitants; the Marseille and Lyon agglomerations, more than 1.5 million each. Urbanization is gaining ground especially along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines but also in Alpine regions. Demographic growth is strongest in rural areas. It is also more intense in small urban units than in large ones.