Question:

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The rural-urban continuum and the heterogeneity of urban settings pose an obvious challenge to identifying urban areas and measuring urbanization rates in a consistent way within and across countries. An objective methodology for distinguishing between urban and rural areas that is based on one or two metrics with fixed thresholds may not adequately capture the wide diversity of places. A richer combination of criteria would better describe the multifaceted nature of a city’s function and its environment, but the joint interpretation of these criteria may require an element of human judgment.

Updated On: Jul 24, 2025
  • The difficulty of accurately identifying urban areas means that we need to create a rich combination of criteria that can be applied to all urban areas.
  • With the diversity of urban landscapes, measurable criteria for defining urban areas may need to be supplemented with human judgement.
  • Current methodologies used to define urban and rural areas are no longer relevant to our being able to study trends in urbanisation.
  • Distinguishing between urban and rural areas might call for some judgement on the objective methodology being used to define a city’s functions.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The passage discusses the challenges in effectively identifying urban areas and measuring rates of urbanization due to the rural-urban continuum and the diversity within urban environments across different countries. It highlights that relying solely on objective methodologies with fixed metrics may not fully capture the complexity of what constitutes an urban area. Therefore, the passage suggests that a richer combination of criteria might better represent urban functions and environments, but interpreting these criteria could also require the incorporation of human judgment. The option that best encapsulates the essence of the passage is: With the diversity of urban landscapes, measurable criteria for defining urban areas may need to be supplemented with human judgement. This option effectively acknowledges the need for a combination of metrics and human insight to address the diversity and complexity of urban settings.
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