Nearly nine in ten people in England and Wales live in cities, towns and other urbanised areas, the latest report on census data from the Office for National Statistics reveals.
The report provides details for all urban areas with a population larger than 1,500 residents and having an area of at least 20 hectares, enabling comparisons with the 1991 Census.
The proportion of people living in urban areas has slightly increased since 1991, by 0.2 per cent. The number of such areas in England and Wales has increased by nearly 100 to 1,950.
The 31 large settlements with populations of over 200,000 contain nearly half of the total population of England and Wales. Four areas have over a million people each, accounting on their own for more than a quarter of the total population.
The four are:
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The Greater London Urban Area (population 8.3 million)
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West Midland Urban Area . including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall . (2.3 million)
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Greater Manchester Urban Area . including Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, and Stockport . (2.2 million)
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West Yorkshire Urban Area . including Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield . (1.5 million)
Compared with 1991, the population of the Greater London Urban Area has increased by eight per cent or 627,000 people (while the size of the area has increased by only 0.4 per cent, or 613 hectares). The population density of the Greater London Urban Area has increased by about four people per hectare (3.7) to nearly 51 people per hectare.
There are some interesting differences between people living in urban areas of 10,000 residents or more, and the remaining population of England and Wales. Some strong contrasts can be seen, as follows:
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There was a higher proportion of 0-4 year olds in urban areas with a population of 10,000 or more. They formed 6.1 per cent of the urban population, compared to 5.3 per cent of the remainder.
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The proportion of 20 to 29 year olds living in urban areas was higher than elsewhere. They formed 13.5 per cent of the urban population compared to 8.9 per cent of the remainder. These urban areas had a lower proportion of residents aged 45 and over: 38.2 per cent compared to 46.1 per cent in other areas.
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85.2 per cent of urban residents reported their ethnicity as White British compared to 96.5 per cent of residents of other areas.
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A lower proportion of married couple households (excluding pensioners) with no children were found in urban areas: 11.9 per cent compared to 17.4 per cent elsewhere.
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29.8 per cent of urban households had no cars or vans compared to 14.6 per cent elsewhere.
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43.6 per cent of households outside urban areas own or have the use of two or more cars or vans compared with 25.9 per cent of urban households.
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