Meaning & use
urban lifestyles
Last updated
Meanings
nounplural
The ways of living, working, and spending free time that are typical of people in cities.
Grammar: Always plural in this phrase; for one person use 'an urban lifestyle'.
Patterns
- urban lifestyles in a place
- a range of urban lifestyles
- change urban lifestyles
The documentary explores urban lifestyles in Tokyo and New York.
Rising rents are changing urban lifestyles across the country.
Many young people prefer urban lifestyles to life in the countryside.
nounplural
A particular way of living that is connected with a city, often seen as modern and busy.
Grammar: Used to contrast city life with rural life.
Patterns
- a contrast between urban lifestyles and rural ones
- adopt an urban lifestyle
The study compares urban lifestyles with rural ones.
She left her village and adopted a fast-paced urban lifestyle.
Common combinations
- modern urban lifestyles
- Modern urban lifestyles often involve long commutes.
- changing urban lifestyles
- Technology is driving changing urban lifestyles.
- urban lifestyles in [place]
- Urban lifestyles in Seoul are very different from those in small towns.
- a study of urban lifestyles
- She published a study of urban lifestyles in three major cities.
Synonyms and how they differ
- city life
- More general and often uncountable; 'urban lifestyles' stresses the different ways people live.
- metropolitan living
- More formal and usually refers to life in a very large city.
Opposites
Word family
- urban adjective
- Relating to a town or city.
- lifestyle noun
- The way a person or group lives.
- urbanization noun
- The process by which towns and cities grow.
Commonly confused: urban lifestyles or urban life?
urban lifestyles vs urban life
'Urban life' is uncountable and refers to city life in general; 'urban lifestyles' is plural and focuses on different ways of living.
Practice
The book examines how technology is changing ___ in big cities.
Choose one answer.
The plural 'urban lifestyles' fits because the sentence talks about different ways of living in general. 'Urban lifestyle' without an article is not standard; 'an urban lifestyle' would refer to one person's way of life; 'the urban lifestyle' suggests one single shared way of life, which is too limited here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “urban lifestyles”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.