City vs Town
Cities and towns are differentiated primarily by an area’s demography and its geography. In simple terms, cities are larger dwelling places than towns.
Cities cover a wider area than towns and as cities advance, they may sometimes incorporate or merge with surrounding areas. Towns on the other hand do not generally expand into other areas in the same way as cities.
Cities are more densely populated than towns. Towns, as mentioned earlier, are smaller than cities but bigger than villages. Unlike towns, most cities are the seat of most of a region’s administrative functions, that is to say, most of the important administrative offices are situated in the cities.
The governance of cities is handled by corporate bodies whereas municipal bodies rule the towns. Generally a mayor is the head of a city corporation, while a chairman is the head of a municipality. The centre of power mainly rests in the cities and not in the towns.
Unlike the towns, cities are generally well planned and have proper sanitation, drinking water, roads and other modern amenities.
The first towns were those where people no longer did farming but were engaged in other occupations and trade. As towns expanded, this led to the formation of cities.
Though the classification of an area as a town or city is related to it’s population; different countries have different methods of making this classification. In the US, a ‘city’ is just a legal term that means an urban area with autonomous power. In other countries, the word may not have such a legal basis and is generally just used to refer to a large settlement.
Summary
1. Cities are larger than towns and more densely populated.
2. As cities advance, they may sometimes merge with, or incorporate surrounding areas. Towns on the other hand, tend not to do this.
3. The centre of power mainly rests in the cities and not in the towns. Most of the important administrative offices are situated in the cities.
4. Corporate bodies rule the cities; municipalities, the towns. A mayor is the head of a city corporation, while a chairman is the head of a municipality.
5. In the US, ‘city’ is a legal term that means an urban area with autonomous power. In other countries, the word does not have a legal basis but refers to a large settlement.