What does this indicator measure?

This indicator measures the percent of people living in “urban and suburban areas” in the Syracuse, Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s) as well as the United States and 100 Largest Metro Areas, in 2009.

Urban and suburban densities are defined as areas with at least 1,000 people per square mile.  Sprawl not only attenuates agglomeration economies and hollows central cities, but also forces automobile dependence which encourages fuel consumption and leads to higher carbon emission.–explanation courtesy of the Brookings Institute