Everyone wants to live a life in which they do not have to worry about things; they have all the opportunities and facilities that a person can enjoy and therefore, where you live, becomes critical. There are different areas within a community where people can spend their lives. The main difference between Urban and Suburban can be stated as the first one being a developed place and is most of the times known as either a city or a town. Whereas, the second one is an outlying district of a city, especially a living one and created for the benefit of few.
Comparison Chart
| Basis of Distinction | Urban | Suburban |
| Definition | A place that is rated as a developed place and is most of the times known as either a city or a town. | An outlying district of a city, especially a living one and created for the benefit of people who want to enjoy. |
| Population | Most number of individuals living at a place. | Fewer people are living in such as place. |
| Facilities | All the services provided to everyone, and they are easily accessible. | All the facilities provided to everyone, and they are not always readily available. |
| Development | Most developed places within a country with little room for improvement. | Are always under development and changes are taking place to make them better. |
| Access | Everything is mapped accurately for people to find their way in the city. | Things are not planned correctly since the place is new. |
| Streets | Long but narrow since space is not much. | Short but wide since there is more space. |
| Houses | Range from big to small | Are mostly big and lavish |
What is Urban?
Urban as a word has meanings of a place which is rated as a developed place and is most of the times known as either a city or a town. People have the facilities they want to live their life; these can include hospitals where they can go and get checked up. This place can include parks and other places where people can go and enjoy after a hectic day. This fact also means a place where there are more cars, and other vehicles and more people will be seen enjoying their day irrespective of the time of day. If we define it more, the urban area is the one in which there is a significant number of people living, there is infrastructure in the form of buildings, and there is a favorable environment for people to spend their life and find work. The opposite of this word is rural; that is mostly a term used for villages where there are not many facilities to live a lavish life. There is another contrast in urban areas; that is that most of the places such as buildings, parks, schools and other places are built by people, and cannot stay natural. China and India are two countries who have the biggest urban areas in the world. According to the United Nations report, currently, around 4 billion people are living in urban settings which make more than 60% of the total people on this planet. They are created by government and are further developed with time and cannot have the same category, as metropolitan areas that are different. One of the city with most number of people living in Urban settlements is the capital, Argentina, Buenos Aires.
What is Suburban?
A suburban area is a place which is different from an urban area but closely related. When cities tend to grow bigger and the number of people increases then there is always the need to expand into the towns so that more people can add to it. Therefore, new residential settlements constructed on the outskirts of the city; this can be termed as a district but always is the residential area. A simpler way of showing what means will be that a suburb is a residential area that is present near a city for living purposes as the part of the town, or as a separate place to live but connects the city one way or the other. That is the reason that these terms have become famous in English speaking countries and used as a synonym of the neighborhood. They were first introduced late in a 19th and 20th century when people had the facilities of rail and road, and they wanted to live away from the conventional city life, but at the same time, they did not want to move away from the cities altogether. Hence, the idea of suburbs came in the reckoning. They have therefore less population than the inner city but can have all the facilities that are available in the city because of the development. People and many other business companies have their suburbs where individuals who work for them are provided homes and all the other essentials of life so that they can work in a proper environment without having to worry about other things. This situation is a particular instance when a company has their offices away from the city and have to entice workers to come and work for them.
Key Differences between Urban and Suburban
- Urban has the meanings of a place that is rated as a developed place and is most of the times known as either a city or a town. Suburban area is an outlying district of a city, especially a private one and has been created for the benefit of people who want to enjoy.
- There is more population in an urban area and number of schools, colleges, and hospitals. There are fewer people in a suburban area, and the number of such places is few, but they are of the same quality.
- Urban areas develop so much that they lose their natural touch whereas the natural look can be maintained in a suburban area depending on the choice.
- There are mostly narrow streets in an urban area, and similarly, the houses range from small to big. There are wide streets in a suburban area, and the houses are mostly big.
- Everything is mapped accurately and accessible for people who want to find their way in some cities while that is not the case as a suburban area is always under development and finding your way can be difficult at times.