Urbanization is the main criterion for distinguishing between urban and rural, but it varies according to the disciplines. The UN suggests classifications based on population density, urban services and agricultural occupation. In industrialized countries, the urban definition is based on population and settlement structure. The urban-rural classification can follow two logics: an urban-centric one, which considers the rural as the residual territory, and one based on environmental dominance, which recognizes specific characteristics of the landscape. In this work we advance a territorial classification method based on environmental dominance that uses a spatial grid based on population density, infrastructural concentration and urban connectivity. This method is empirically applied to three Italian regions: Liguria, Basilicata, Tuscany. Cluster analysis has identified the Municipalities considering urbanity and rurality as gradients, rather than clear oppositions, identifying intermediate situations. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence of “intermediate territories” (TiB). The most advanced methods for classifying the demographic surface in rural or urban, use population grids such as the Global Human Settlement Population Grid (GHS-POP), however, this method is strictly dichotomic, forcing areas to be rural or urban. On the opposite, overcoming the urban-rural dichotomy, we highlighted hybrid areas where infrastructures and services mix.