• The definition of urban-rural areas by used the size of
population can be critiqued.
1. They are dichotomous, in that they set up rural areas
opposition to urban and recognize no in-between.
2. They are based on a very narrow set of indicators that reveal
little about the social and economic processes that shape
urban and rural localities.
3. Rural areas are treated as homogeneous with no
acknowledgement of the diversity of rural areas.