A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities or towns which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. It is thus a polycentric form of agglomeration.
A metropolitan area (where not centred on a single city) usually combines a conurbation proper (the contiguous built-up area) with peripheral zones not themselves necessarily urban in character but closely bound to the conurbation by employment or commerce.
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