/ ˈɜːbən; NAmE ˈɜːrbən/ adjective
[ usually before noun ] connected with a town or city :
damage to both urban and rural environments
urban areas
urban life
urban development (= the process of building towns and cities or making them larger)
urban renewal / regeneration (= the process of improving the buildings, etc. in the poor parts of a town or city)
efforts to control urban sprawl (= the spread of city buildings into the countryside)
—compare rural
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WORD ORIGIN
early 17th cent.: from Latin urbanus , from urbs , urb- city.