City limits

City Limits

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City limits

The term city limits (or city boundary) refers to the defined boundary of a city

City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
.

he United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, such limits are usually formally described in a state or territorial law (or an appropriate regulation) as being under the control of the municipal corporation

Municipal corporation

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local government, including city, county, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs....
or agency

Government agency

A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency....
that constitutes the city government.

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Encyclopedia

The term city limits (or city boundary) refers to the defined boundary of a city

City

United States of America

In the United States

United States

Municipal corporation

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local government, including city, county, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs....
or agency

Government agency

Freeway

A freeway is a type of road designed for Road safety#Motorway high-speed operation of motor vehicles through the elimination of at-grade intersections....
s, highway

Highway

A highway is a main road intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as city and towns. Highway designs vary widely and can range from a two-lane road without margins to a multi-lane, grade separated freeway....
s, and boulevard

Boulevard

Boulevard has several generally accepted meanings. It was first introduced in the French language in 1435 as boloard and has since been altered into boulevard....
s.

Property which within city limits is subject to city taxation and city regulation

Regulation

Regulation refers to "controlling human or societal behaviour by rules or restrictions." Regulation can take many forms: law restrictions promulgated by a government authority, self-regulation, social regulation , co-regulation and market regulation....
, and expects city services. In some U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
s, areas outside of any city's limits are considered to be unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of Real property that is not a part of any municipality. To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city or town with its own government....
, and by default they are regulated and taxed by the county

County (United States)

In the United States, a county is a local level of government below the U.S. state . Counties are used in 48 of the 50 states, while Louisiana is divided into List of parishes in Louisiana and Alaska into Borough ....
. In others, areas outside of city limits fall within another type of local government

Local government in the United States

Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual U.S. state. Typically each state has at least two separate tiers: County , and municipality....
, such as the civil township

Civil township

A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to a county . Specific responsibilities and the degree of Wiktionary:autonomy vary based on each U.S....
.

The terms town limits and village limits mean the same as city limits, but apply to town

Town

A town is a type of human settlement ranging from a few to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition....
s and village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
s.

City, town, and village limits are not necessarily coterminous with post office locations, ZIP code

ZIP Code

File:UseZipCode.JPGThe ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service . The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, are properly written in capital letters and were chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the code....
s, or school districts.

United Kingdom

In the UK, city boundaries are more difficult to define, since British cities are defined as any town - regardless of size - that has been granted letters patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, government-granted monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation....
. In smaller cities such as Wells

Wells

Wells is a small cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills.The name Wells derives from the three Water well dedicated to Saint Andrew, one in the market place and two within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace, Wells and Wells Cathedral....
(pop. approx. 10,000) or Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city status in the United Kingdom, Non-metropolitan district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England region of England....
(pop. approx. 100,000) the boundary will be that governed by the city council

City council

A city council is a form of local government, usually covering a city or other urban area, such as a town. The system of government has roots back at least to the Roman Empire....
. In the case of larger cities such as Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
(pop. approx. 1,000,000), a specific metropolitan borough

Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough is a type of districts of England in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted royal charters to give them borough status in...
will make the definition.

Although British city boundaries are often important for defining local services such as refuse collection and planning (zoning), they play little or no role in law enforcement, schools, libraries or hospitals. Police jurisdiction and local services are generally defined by county

County

A county is a land area of Local government government within a larger state. A county may have city and towns within its area....
boundaries, and people in one county may usually decide to use hospitals, libraries and schools in another without incurring any fees.

There is no concept of local taxation in the UK, other than minor differences between Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
, Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
and England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom....
. Local government councils derive their income from council tax

Council tax

Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country....
and business rates

Business rates

Business rates is the commonly used name of non-domestic rates, a tax on the occupation of non-domestic property. Rates are a property tax used to fund local services that dates back to the Elizabethan Poor Law ....
, taxes based on the values of buildings.

Planning (zoning) law around British cities is generally determined by green belt

Green belt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy or land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural landscape surrounding or neighbouring urban areas....
laws, which prevent building on the countryside immediately surrounding large and medium-sized towns and cities. It is commonly but mistakenly believed amongst British city dwellers that the entire countryside is green belt since they seldom venture further than the immediate outskirts of their city; in fact the vast majority of British countryside does not fall within any green belt.