The new 2010 division into urban areas: further peri-urbanization and growth of large urban areas

Peri-urbanization made further gains in metropolitan France (mainland + Corsica) between 1999 and 2008. Jobs are more concentrated in large urban clusters, even as many households choose to move out of them. As a result of these two combined effects, many municipalities are entering the sphere of influence of large urban areas. The growth of large urban clusters is still robust, but that of their suburban rings is even more vigorous. By 2008, large urban clusters and peri-urban space covered one-half of the nation's territory and were home to more than 80% of the population and total jobs. Most large areas continue to expand-some very briskly, such as Lyon, Avignon, and Saint-Étienne. Others, such as Lille, have stayed within their 1999 boundaries. Territorial extension is often combined with a densification of the population in certain sectors of the urban area. The conjunction and intensity of these two trends (territorial extension and densification) make it possible to distinguish between several types of growth of large urban areas.