List of urban areas in the United Kingdom

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List of urban areas in the United Kingdom is a list of the larger urban areas as defined by the Office for National Statistics, which is based on the continuously built-up area and is as follows:-

"The definition of an urban area is an extent of at least 20 hectares and at least 1,500 residents at the time of the 2001 Census. The starting point is the identification by OS (Ordnance Survey) of areas with land use which is irreversibly urban in character. This comprises permanent structures and the land on which they are situated, including land enclosed by or closely associated with such structures; transportation corridors such as roads, railways and canals which have built up land on one or both sides, or which link built-up sites which are less than 200 metres apart; transportation features such as airports and operational airfields, railway yards, motorway service areas and car parks; mine buildings, excluding mineral workings and quarries; and any area completely surrounded by builtup sites. Areas such as playing fields and golf courses are excluded unless completely surrounded by builtup sites. The prerequisite for the recognition of an urban area is that the area of urban land should extend for 20 hectares or more. Separate areas of urban land are linked if less than 200 metres apart. Land between built-up areas is not regarded as urban unless it satisfies one of the conditions listed above."[1]

A conurbation is formed when cities and towns expand sufficiently that their urban areas join up with each other. This process has happened many times in the United Kingdom. In many cases, there are differences of interpretation as to the limits of a conurbation - where it begins and ends. For the purposes of consistency, the list on this page uses the Office for National Statistics (ONS) definition of urban areas.

Contents

List of most populous urban areas[edit]

The list below shows the most populous urban areas in the UK as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showing all those with a population in excess of 50,000 at the 2001 census.

Rank Urban Area[2] Population

(2001 Census)[2][3]

 Localities[4][3] Area (km²)[2][4] Density (People/km²)[2][4] Largest Settlement Major localities[3][4] Metropolitan Area[5][6] Country/Region of England
1 Greater London Urban Area 8,278,251 67 1,623.37 5,099.4 London London Boroughs (localities such as Croydon, Kingston, Romford, Hounslow, Ealing, Bromley and Ilford), Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Woking London Greater London
2 West Midlands Urban Area 2,284,093 22 599.72 3,808.6 Birmingham Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Dudley, Walsall, Solihull West Midlands West Midlands
3 Greater Manchester Urban Area 2,240,230 57 556.72 4,024.0 Manchester Salford, Bolton, Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Tameside, Trafford. Manchester North West England
4 West Yorkshire Urban Area 1,499,465 26 370.02 4,052.4 Leeds Bradford, Wakefield, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Keighley Leeds-Bradford Yorkshire and the Humber
5 Greater Glasgow 1,199,629 48 368.47 3,171.0 Glasgow Paisley, Coatbridge, Clydebank, Motherwell, Wishaw Glasgow Scotland
6 Tyneside 879,996 25 210.91 4,172.4 Newcastle Gateshead, North Shields, South Shields, Whitley Bay, Jarrow Newcastle-Sunderland North East England
7 Liverpool Urban Area 816,216 8 186.17 4,384.4 Liverpool Bootle, Litherland, Huyton, Roby, Crosby, Prescot, St. Helens Liverpool North West England
8 Nottingham Urban Area 666,358 15 158.52 4,203.6 Nottingham Beeston and Stapleford, Carlton, Long Eaton Nottingham-Derby East Midlands
9 Sheffield Urban Area 640,720 7 162.24 3,949.2 Sheffield Rotherham, Chapeltown, Mosborough Sheffield Yorkshire and the Humber
10 Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area 579,554[7] 13[7] 161.67 2,990.2 Belfast Castlereagh, Newtownabbey, Lisburn, Bangor Belfast Northern Ireland
11 Bristol Urban Area 551,066 7 139.78 3,942.4 Bristol Kingswood, Filton, Bradley Stoke Bristol South West England
12 Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton 461,181 10 94.09 4,901.5 Brighton Worthing, Hove, Littlehampton, Shoreham, Lancing Brighton South East England
13 Portsmouth Urban Area 442,252 7 94.52 4,678.9 Portsmouth Gosport, Waterlooville, Fareham Portsmouth-Southampton South East England
14 Leicester Urban Area 441,213 12 101.64 4,340.9 Leicester Wigston, Oadby, Birstall Leicester East Midlands
15 Edinburgh 420,893 2 120.11 3,765.0 Edinburgh Musselburgh Edinburgh Scotland
16 Bournemouth Urban Area 383,713 5 108.15 3,548.0 Bournemouth Poole, Christchurch, New Milton Bournemouth South West England
17 Reading/Wokingham Urban Area 369,804 5 93.17 3,969.1 Reading Bracknell, Wokingham, Crowthorne London South East England
18 Teesside 365,323 7 113.99 3,204.9 Middlesbrough Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham Middlesbrough Yorkshire and the Humber & North East England
19 The Potteries Urban Area 362,403 3 96.62 3,750.8 Stoke-on-Trent Newcastle-under-Lyme, Kidsgrove Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands
20 Coventry/Bedworth Urban Area 336,452 3 75.56 4,452.8 Coventry Bedworth, Exhall West Midlands West Midlands
21 Cardiff Urban Area 327,706 4 75.72 4,328.0 Cardiff Penarth, Dinas Powys, Radyr Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales
22 Birkenhead Urban Area 319,675 5 89.11 3,587.4 Birkenhead Ellesmere Port, Wallasey, Bebington Liverpool North West England
23 Southampton Urban Area 304,400 3 72.80 4,181.3 Southampton Eastleigh, Bishopstoke Portsmouth-Southampton South East England
24 Kingston upon Hull 301,416 1 80.44 3,747.3 Hull Haltemprice Hull Yorkshire and the Humber
25 Swansea Urban Area 270,506 4 79.81 3,389.0 Swansea Neath, Port Talbot, Pontardawe/Clydach Swansea Wales
26 Southend Urban Area 269,415 5 66.85 4,030 Southend-on-Sea South Benfleet, Hadleigh, Hockley, Rayleigh, Rochford London East of England
27 Preston Urban Area 264,601 5 60.62 4,365 Preston Chorley, Euxton, Leyland, Bamber Bridge Preston North West England
28 Blackpool Urban Area 261,088 5 65.86 3,964 Blackpool Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde, Thornton-Cleveleys Blackpool North West England
29 Plymouth 243,795 1 79.29 3,188 Plymouth Plympton and Plymstock Plymouth South West England
30 Aldershot Urban Area 243,344 10 77.83 3,127 Farnborough Aldershot, Camberley/Frimley, Farnham London South East England
31 Derby Urban Area 236,738 3 78.03 3,028 Derby Borrowash, Chaddesden Nottingham-Derby East Midlands
32 Luton/Dunstable Urban Area 236,318 3 48.95 4,828 Luton Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leagrave London East of England
33 Medway Towns Urban Area 231,659 12 50.97 4,545 Gillingham Rochester, Chatham, Strood, Rainham London South East England
34 Dearne Valley Urban Area 207,726 12 52.92 3,925 Barnsley Wombwell, Wath-upon-Dearne, Cudworth, Darfield, Darton, Dodworth, Hoyland Nether Sheffield Yorkshire and the Humber
35 Northampton Urban Area 197,199 3 80.76 2540.9 Northampton Wootton, Hardingstone Northampton East Midlands
36 Norwich Urban Area 194,839 4 39.02 3,388 Norwich Costessey, Cringleford, Taverham Norwich East of England
37 Aberdeen 193,379 3 60.94 3,238 Aberdeen Cove Bay, Dyce Aberdeen Scotland
38 Milton Keynes urban area 184,506 8 89 2,199 Milton Keynes Bletchley, Newport Pagnell Milton Keynes South East England
39 Wearside (Sunderland Urban Area) 182,974 2 39.83 4,594 Sunderland Whitburn Newcastle-Sunderland North East England
40 Crawley Urban Area 180,177 6 44.96 2,221 Crawley Horley, Reigate/Redhill, Salfords, Nutfield London South East England
41 Wigan Urban Area 166,840 7 39.02 4,276 Wigan Abram, Orrell, Skelmersdale Manchester/Liverpool North West England
42 Warrington Urban Area 158,195 5 43.55 3,632 Warrington Risley, Great Sankey, Stockton Heath, Thelwall Manchester/Liverpool North West England
43 Mansfield Urban Area 158,114 4 45.20 3,498 Mansfield Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Mansfield Woodhouse Nottingham-Derby East Midlands
44 Dundee 157,808 1 67 3,298 Dundee Dundee Scotland
45 Swindon 155,432 1 40.55 3,833 Swindon Swindon South West England
46 Burnley/Nelson 149,796 2 30.27 4,949 Burnley Nelson Blackburn-Burnley North West England
47 Oxford 143,016 1 45.59 3,270 Oxford Botley Oxford South East England
48 Slough Urban Area 141,848 4 30.57 4,640 Slough Burnham, Stoke Poges, Farnham Royal, Colnbrook London South East England
49 Ipswich Urban Area 141,658 2 39.42 3,103 Ipswich Martlesham Heath Ipswich East of England
50 Newport Urban Area 139,298 3 39 3,572 Newport Langstone, Risca Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales
51 Grimsby Urban Area 138,842 2 34.17 4,063 Grimsby Cleethorpes Grimsby Yorkshire and the Humber
52 Telford Urban Area 138,241 9 41.80 3,307 Telford Broseley, Ironbridge, Oakengates, Donnington Telford West Midlands
53 York 137,505 1 31.48 4,368 York York Yorkshire and the Humber
54 Blackburn/Darwen 136,655 2 31.85 4,291 Blackburn Darwen Blackburn-Burnley North West England
55 Peterborough 136,292 1 40.47 3,368 Peterborough Chesterton Peterborough East of England
56 Gloucester Urban Area 136,203 3 35.38 3,850 Gloucester Churchdown, Innsworth Cheltenham-Gloucester South West England
57 Nuneaton Urban Area 132,236 4 32.52 4,066 Nuneaton Bulkington, Hartshill, Hinckley West Midlands West Midlands
58 Cambridge Urban Area 131,465 5 36.08 3,644 Cambridge Fulbourn, Girton, Great Shelford Cambridge East of England
59 Doncaster Urban Area 127,851 4 24.97 5,120 Doncaster Armthorpe, Bentley, Kirk Sandall Sheffield Yorkshire and the Humber
60 Hastings/Bexhill 126,386 2 30 2,907 Hastings Bexhill Hastings South East England
61 Thanet 119,144 3 26.68 4,466 Margate Ramsgate, Broadstairs Thanet South East England
62 High Wycombe Urban Area 118,229 6 32.80 3,605 High Wycombe Cookham, Great Kingshill, Hazlemere London South East England
63 Southport/Formby 115,882 2 30.89 3,751 Southport Formby Liverpool North West England
64 St Albans/Hatfield 114,720 2 32.35 3,546 St Albans Hatfield London East of England
65 Torbay 110,366 2 62.88 2,131 Torquay Paignton Torbay South West England
66 Cheltenham/Charlton Kings 110,320 2 27.12 4,068 Cheltenham Charlton Kings Cheltenham-Gloucester South West England
67 Exeter 106,772 1 47.03 3,142 Exeter Exeter South West England
68 Eastbourne 106,562 1 44.2 2,147 Eastbourne Polegate Eastbourne South East England
69 Colchester 104,390 1 29.65 3,521 Colchester Stanway Colchester East of England
70 Lincoln Urban Area 104,221 3 30.38 3,431 Lincoln Birchwood, Waddington Lincoln East Midlands
71 Bedford Urban Area 101,928 2 23.54 4,330 Bedford Kempston, Biddenham Bedford East of England
72 Basildon/North Benfleet 101,492 2 24.92 4,073 Basildon North Benfleet London East of England
73 Chesterfield/Staveley 100,879 3 28.31 3,563 Chesterfield Staveley Sheffield East Midlands
74 Chelmsford 99,962 1 24.24 4,124 Chelmsford Great Baddow London East of England
75 Morecambe/Lancaster 95,521 2 21.38 4,468 Lancaster Morecambe Lancaster North West England
76 Worcester 94,029 1 23.17 4,058 Worcester Worcester West Midlands
77 Basingstoke/Old Basing 93,963 2 28.93 3,248 Basingstoke Old Basing Basingstoke South East England
78 Chester Urban Area 90,925 3 27.79 3,272 Chester Saltney, Broughton Liverpool North West England
79 Derry Urban Area 90,736 4 37.18 2,440 Derry Culmore, Strathfoyle, Newbuildings, Creggan Londonderry Northern Ireland
80 Bath 90,144 1 23.72 3,800 Bath Bristol South West England
81 Maidstone 89,684 1 21.73 4,127 Maidstone London South East England
82 Harlow/Sawbridgeworth 88,296 2 19.98 4,419 Harlow Sawbridgeworth London East of England
83 Falkirk 88,109 5 36.10 2,532 Falkirk Grangemouth, Carron, Polmont, Stenhousemuir Falkirk Scotland
84 Darlington 86,082 1 21.47 4,009 Darlington Middlesbrough North East England
85 Hartlepool 86,075 1 24.24 3,551 Hartlepool Middlesbrough North East England
86 Harrogate/Knaresborough 85,128 2 21.97 3,875 Harrogate Knaresborough Harrogate Yorkshire and the Humber
87 Warwick/Leamington 84,945 2 27.79 3,272 Royal Leamington Spa Warwick, Whitnash, Cubbington West Midlands West Midlands
88 Cannock/Great Wyrley Urban Area 83,797 2 21.15 3,962 Cannock Great Wyrley West Midlands West Midlands
89 Halifax 83,570 1 18.55 4,505 Halifax Leeds-Bradford Yorkshire and the Humber
90 Pontypool/Cwmbran 82,701 2 22.93 3,607 Pontypool Cwmbran Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales
91 Stevenage 81,482 1 21.83 3,733 Stevenage London East of England
92 Greenock 80,270 3 27.79 3,272 Greenock Gourock, Port Glasgow Greenock Scotland
93 Weston-Super-Mare 80,076 2 27.79 3,272 Weston-Super-Mare Hutton Bristol South West England
94 Tamworth Urban Area 79,008 2 20.28 3,896 Tamworth Fazeley West Midlands West Midlands
95 Redditch/Astwood Bank 77,461 2 21.28 3,640 Redditch Astwood Bank West Midlands West Midlands
96 Grays/Tilbury 75,635 2 25.71 2,942 Grays Tilbury London East of England
97 Scunthorpe 72,660 1 28.66 2,535 Scunthorpe Scunthorpe Yorkshire and the Humber
98 Carlisle 71,773 1 20.39 3,520 Carlisle Carlisle North West England
99 Accrington Urban Area 71,224 5 13.92 5,117 Accrington Oswaldtwistle, Clayton-le-Moors, Church, Lancashire, Great Harwood Blackburn-Burnley North West England
100 East Kilbride 70,579 1 24.12 3,060 East Kilbride Glasgow Scotland
101 Guildford 69,400 1 19.67 3,528 Guildford London South East England
102 Islwyn Urban Area 69,231 7 16.87 4,104 Blackwood Abercarn, Newbridge, Bargoed, Oakdale, Pontllanfraith, Gelligaer Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales
103 Aylesbury Urban Area 69,021 1 15.26 4,523 Aylesbury London South East England
104 Blantyre/Hamilton 68,572 2 22.63 2,911 Blantyre Hamilton Glasgow Scotland
105 Lowestoft 68,340 1 19.34 3,534 Lowestoft Lowestoft East of England
106 Crewe 67,683 1 17.73 3,817 Crewe Crewe North West England
107 Shrewsbury 67,126 1 19.51 3,441 Shrewsbury Shrewsbury West Midlands
108 Great Yarmouth Urban Area 66,788 2 17.47 3,823 Great Yarmouth Caister-on-Sea Great Yarmouth East of England
109 Whitstable/Herne Bay 64,092 2 16.75 3,877 Herne Bay Whitstable Canterbury South East England
110 Abergele/Rhyl/Prestatyn 64,026 4 19.24 3,328 Rhyl Abergele, Prestatyn, Dyserth Rhyl Wales
111 Stafford 63,681 1 19.62 3,246 Stafford Stafford West Midlands
112 Wrexham Urban Area 63,084 4 16.52 3,819 Wrexham Brymbo, Gwersyllt, Rhostyllen Wrexham Wales
113 Bognor Regis 62,141 1 16.35 3,081 Bognor Regis Bognor Regis/Chichester South East England
114 Rugby 61,988 1 17.57 3,528 Rugby Rugby West Midlands
115 Ayr/Prestwick 61,411 2 23.57 2,604 Ayr Prestwick Ayr Scotland
116 Royal Tunbridge Wells 60,095 1 16.01 3,754 Royal Tunbridge Wells London South East England
117 Runcorn 60,072 1 21.36 2,812 Runcorn Liverpool North West England
118 Folkestone/Hythe 60,039 2 17.62 3,407 Folkestone Hythe Folkestone South East England
119 Rhondda 59,602 1 10.40 5,731 Rhondda Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales
120 Ashford 58,936 1 17.39 3,389 Ashford Ashford South East England
121 Maidenhead 58,848 1 18.57 3,169 Maidenhead Bray London South East England
122 Taunton 58,241 1 16.62 3,504 Taunton Taunton South West England
123 Kettering/Burton Latimer 57,803 2 14.51 3,984 Kettering Burton Latimer Kettering/Corby East Midlands
124 Craigavon 57,685 2 37.70 1,530 Craigavon Lurgan, Portadown, Bleary Craigavon Northern Ireland
125 Scarborough/Scalby 57,649 3 13.27 4,344 Scarborough Scalby, Eastfield Scarborough Yorkshire and the Humber
126 Welwyn Urban Area 57,512 5 18.54 3,102 Welwyn Garden City Welwyn, Codicote, Tewin London East of England
127 Newbury/Thatcham 56,513 2 14.65 3,858 Newbury Thatcham Newbury South East England
128 Hereford 56,373 1 15.53 3,630 Hereford Hereford West Midlands
129 Weymouth Urban Area 56,043 4 13.54 4,139 Weymouth Chickerell, Overcombe, Preston Weymouth South West England
130 Widnes 55,686 1 15.54 3,583 Widnes Liverpool North West England
131 Kidderminster 55,610 1 15.62 3,560 Kidderminster West Midlands West Midlands
132 Loughborough 55,258 1 13.78 4,010 Loughborough Leicester East Midlands
133 Clacton-on-Sea/Little Clacton 54,048 2 13.20 4,095 Clacton-on-Sea Little Clacton Clacton East of England
134 Macclesfield/Prestbury 53,957 2 15.24 3,540 Macclesfield Prestbury Manchester North West England
135 Castleford/Normanton South 51,639 2 13.99 3,691 Castleford Normanton South Leeds-Bradford Yorkshire and the Humber
136 Livingston 50,771 3 26.07 2,283 Livingston East Calder, Mid Calder Edinburgh Scotland
137 Barry 50,661 1 14.39 3,521 Barry Cardiff & South Wales Valleys Wales

Commentary[edit]

There is a spectrum that can be drawn between the conurbations that have a clear 'head' (such as Bristol and Leicester) to those that do not, known as multi-centred conurbations (such as Bournemouth/Poole and Teesside), via ones that are more borderline (West Midlands). In the case of the West Midlands, for example, the largest city, Birmingham did expand massively and is now considered to include areas that were formerly independent towns, such as Sutton Coldfield and Aston. However, here it stopped, with the Black Country and Wolverhampton retaining strong identities.

There are also various places where whilst not actually running into each other, the amount of development in a large area is substantial. Heavily built up areas of this type include :

.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ ONS definition of urban areas[dead link]
  2. ^ a b c d The UK’s major urban areas Office for National Statistics[dead link], http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-areas-in-england-and-wales/index.html
  3. ^ a b c KS01 Usual resident population, Key Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland General Register Office for Scotland
  4. ^ a b c d KS01 Usual resident population Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas Office for National Statistics. Hectares converted into km2
  5. ^ http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1122670315&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-81&srt=pnan&col=adhoq&msz=1500&va=&pt=a
  6. ^ a b c http://www.espon.eu/export/sites/default/Documents/Projects/ESPON2006Projects/StudiesScientificSupportProjects/UrbanFunctions/fr-1.4.3_April2007-final.pdf#page=122
  7. ^ a b "NISRA - Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-15. 
  8. ^ "Shrinking cities and growing regions â€" emerging trends of new rural-urban relationships in the UK and Germany (Manchester eScholar - The University of Manchester)". Escholar.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-15. 
  9. ^ Martin Wainwright (2006-10-23). "Seeking peace and quiet? Here's where to find it | UK news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-11-15. 
List of settlements in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
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