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 For UAs that qualified in earlier censuses, the 1990 delineation process began at the previous (usually 1980) UA boundary. In the case of potential UAs, the boundary of the central place(s) was the starting point for examining territory to determine qualification. Portions of surrounding territory were added to the core if they had a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile, or if they could be included through recognition of a whole place, an extended city, a jump, a nonresidential urban land use area, or by virtue of being undevelopable territory (see previous section).

For making specific delineation decisions, the Census Bureau frequently relied on small geographic entities called analysis units (AUs). Each AU consisted of either a single census block or—more frequently—a cluster of contiguous blocks, often of similar physical size and shape. An AU generally represented a single housing cluster, other territory having a closely spaced street pattern, or territory having a similar population density or land use.

The Census Bureau established AUs to decide what pieces of territory to include or exclude. Staff used the automated system to measure and evaluate the following kinds of areas as AUs: core areas of places, outlying clusters of high-density blocks, gaps in the pattern of continuous development (usually potential jumps), urban and rural components of extended cities, indentations, and enclaves. In all these situations, the grouping of blocks into AUs established an interpretative grid of small-area geographic units. The census blocks within each AU eventually were classified as either urban or rural.

After the determination of UA boundaries, there followed the separation or merger of contiguous UAs and the determination of UA central places and titles. Ultimately, the Census Bureau recognized 405 UAs for the 1990 census—396 in the United States and 9 in Puerto Rico. In addition, the Census Bureau recognized 4,019 urban places outside of 12-16Urban and Rural Classifications