conurbation
noun

- an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

Merriam-Webster

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ORIGIN

When Sir Patrick Geddes, a Scottish biologist turned sociologist, sat down in 1915 to write ‘Cities in Evolution’, a work on urban planning, he needed a word. How should he refer to thickly populated regions consisting of a sprawling range of cities clustered together?

For his coinage, Geddes combined urbs (the Latin word for “city,” already familiar in urban and suburb) with the Latin prefix con- (“together”) and the English noun suffix -ation.

It turned out that his word suited English speakers just fine and we’ve been using it ever since.

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URBAN SOUNDS

Growing up in the post industrial world, it is hard for us to understand just how much of a shock the sounds of a metropolis were to human ears a century or two ago.

An entirely new symphony of discord suddenly entered the realm of everyday life, particularly in large cities: the crashing, clanging of metal on metal; the white noise blast of the steam engine.

By the 1920s, as electrically amplified sounds began adding to the urban clamour, organizations such as Manhattan’s ‘Noise Abatement Society’ began advocating for a quieter metropolis.

Bell Labs were assigned to evaluate New York City noise hotspots taking sound measurements. Their data gave birth to standard unit of sound volume - the decibel. It was found that some city sounds - riveting and drilling in construction and the roar of the subway were at the decibel threshold for auditory pain.

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SYNONYMS

built-up area, concrete jungle, metropolitan area, metropolis, the Big Smoke, urban sprawl, urban area

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PRACTICE OWAD in an English conversation, discuss something like:

“Living in a CONURBATION, I really appreciate weekends in the countryside.”

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Paul Smith