Communauté urbaine

(incl. overseas regions)

(incl. overseas departments)

Métropole
Communauté urbaine
Communauté d'agglomération
Communauté de communes

Associated communes
Municipal arrondissements

Overseas collectivities
Sui generis collectivity
Overseas country
Overseas territory
Clipperton Island

Urban communities (French: communauté urbaine) are the second most integrated form of intercommunality in France, after the Metropolis (French: métropole). An urban community is composed of a city (commune) and its independent suburbs (independent communes).

The first urban communities were created by the French Parliament on 31 December 1966. Originally there were only four, found in the metropolitan areas of Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Strasbourg. Later, others were created in other metropolitan areas. The purpose of the urban communities was to achieve cooperation and joint administration between large cities and their independent suburbs. This step often followed failed attempts to merge the communes within a metropolitan area. The status of the urban communities was modified by the Chevènement Law of 1999. Since the creation of the métropoles in 2011, several former urban communities have become métropoles, for instance Nice, Strasbourg, Marseille, Nancy and Dijon.