Generally, the classification of urban settlements is made on the basis of size of population, human occupations, administrative structure and other available basic facilities and conditions. 

Urban settlements are generally divided into four parts:

1. city 

2. metropolitan city 

3. conurbation 

4. Megapolis or Megalopolis.

1. City: Settlement having population more than 1 lakh but less than 10 lakh is called city. In the city, more than 50% population is engaged in non-primary occupation. Bikaner, Dausa, Bharatpur etc. are some of its examples.

2. Metropolitan City: A settlement having population more than 10 lakh is called Metropolitan city. Metropolitan cities are the center of industrial, commercial, administrative and educational activities. Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur are some metropolitan cities in Rajasthan.

3. Conurbation: This type of settlement is huge, well developed and well-known urban area, which combines houses of different towns or cities to turn into one huge urban city. In, India, Gwalior – Laskar – Morar, Delhi – Gurugram and Delhi – Noida are few examples of conurbation. Greater London, Tokyo, Chicago are also known as conurbation. The term conurbation was first used by Patrick-Geddes in 1915.

4. Megapolis or Megalopolis: Megapolis means very huge city. The term Megapolis was first used by Jean Gottman in 1857. The population of these cities is more than 50 lakhs. These cities are also called Global cities. Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai in India, and Greater London, Moscow, Beijing are the some examples of Megapolis cities.