This report was produced jointly by the OECD (Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui and the European Commission (Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and the Joint Research Centre). It benefited from the financial support by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.
From OECD side, the report was produced by Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp and Paolo Veneri under the supervision of Rüdiger Ahrend and with the guidance of Joaquim Oliveira Martins. From European Commission side, the report was produced by Lewis Dijkstra. Professor J. Vernon Henderson (London School of Economics) and Professor Tony Venables (University of Oxford) provided scientific guidance on the project. The report was drafted by Lewis Dijkstra (EC), Dante Donati (OECD), Jared Gars (OECD), Lukas Kleine-Rueschkamp (OECD), and Paolo Veneri (OECD).
The report would not have been possible without the support of many. Aneta J. Florczyk, Sergio Freire, Thomas Kemper, Luca Maffenini, Michele Melchiorri, Martino Pesaresi and Marcello Schiavina (all EC-JRC) made vital contributions to the report through analysis, data provision, and constant advice. The report also benefitted from the work of Ana Moreno-Monroy (OECD) and Marcello Schiavina (EC-JRC) on the global delineation of metropolitan areas. J. Vernon Henderson (London School of Economics), Vivian Liu (London School of Economics), Cong Peng (University of California, San Diego), and Adam Storeygard (Tufts University) provided analysis and inputs on demographic and health outcomes by degree of urbanisation in developing countries. Bryan Jones, Deborah Balk, Hasim Engin (all City University of New York), Stefan Leyk (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Mark Montgomery (Population Council) provided projections by Degree of Urbanisation. Eleni Papadimitriou (EC-JRC) produced data on well-being and quality of life, including by gender. Paolo Bolsi, Hugo Poelman (both EC-REGIO), Chris Jacobs-Crisioni, Mert Kompil, Andrius Kučas (all EC-JRC), Dimitrios Papaioannou (International Transport Forum) and Dennis Mwaniki (UN Habitat) all contributed to the transport analysis. Olivier Draily (EC-REGIO) produced the maps and the cover.
Special thanks are hereby conveyed to the following people for their valuable comments on various drafts of the report: Aziza Akhmouch, Enrique Garcilazo, Soo-Jin Kim, Oscar Huerta Melchor, Tadashi Matsumoto, Ana Moreno-Monroy (all OECD), and Chris Jacobs-Crisioni (EC-JRC). The OECD also thanks the delegates to the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee and its Working Parties on Territorial Indicators, on Urban Policy and on Rural Policy for comments and guidance throughout the project. Finally, delegates of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Indicators are thankfully acknowledged for their guidance in the development of the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area definitions.
Eleonore Morena provided editorial assistance, Claire Hoffmann provided statistical assistance, Nikolina Jonsson and Jeanette Duboys prepared the manuscript for publication and Pilar Philip coordinated the production process.