Urban means relating to cities or towns, as opposed to the countryside. Urban areas are places where many people live close together, with buildings, streets, stores, and public transportation like buses or subways. New York City, Tokyo, and London are highly urban places, packed with skyscrapers, apartments, and bustling sidewalks.

The opposite of urban is rural, which describes farmland and open countryside where houses are spread far apart. Between these extremes are suburban areas: neighborhoods on the edges of cities where houses have yards but shops and offices aren't far away.

Urban life means dealing with crowds, noise, and constant activity, but also having museums, restaurants, and entertainment nearby. Urban planning is the work of designing cities so people can move around efficiently and live comfortably. When someone talks about urban development, they mean the growth and change of cities over time.