Nottingham Urban Area
Area of land in and around Nottingham, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nottingham Built-up Area (BUA), Nottingham Urban Area, or Greater Nottingham is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics as built-up land with a minimum area of 20 hectares (200,000 m2), while settlements within 200 metres of each other with a direct road route are linked.[1][2] It consists of the city of Nottingham and the adjoining urban areas of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. It had a total population of 719,400 at the time of the 2021 census. This was an decrease of almost 1.5% since the 2011 census recorded population of 729,977,[3] although there were population increases on several new sub-divisions, there were also a number of reductions in areas.
Geography
Landmarks from top left to bottom right:
- Nottingham Council House
- Town Hall, Beeston
- Musters Road, West Bridgford
- St Mary's Church, Ilkeston
- Arnold town centre
- Market Place, Heanor
- St Mary's Church, Clifton
- Oxford Street Ripley
- Town Hall Long Eaton
- St Peter's Church, Ruddington
Greater Nottingham is largely within the three districts of Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling surrounding the city, though the area spills into the Nottinghamshire district of Ashfield, and also to the Amber Valley and Erewash districts of Derbyshire. The Nottingham Urban Area is, by the ONS' 2011 figures, the 8th largest in England (9th in the UK), with a population size between that of the Tyneside and Sheffield built-up areas; in 2021 it had a total area of 64.6 square miles (167 km2).[4]
Sub-divisions do not always match administrative geographic boundaries; the subdivision of Clifton (22,395 residents) for example in 2021, although within the Nottingham Unitary Authority city area but was left out of the overall conurbation. The Nottingham subdivision oversteps the city's borders at several locations.
In the 1991 census,[5] Ilkeston was considered outside of the Nottingham Urban Area,[6] and its addition gave the BUA an 8% increase in 2001. This was due to improvements in mapping methodology by the ONS, and is chiefly responsible for the increase in sub-divisions over censuses rather than any large scale 'bricks and mortar' building,[7] as much of the area between the cities is protected green belt and wedges, restricting actual development.[8]
The conurbation methodology was changed for the 2021 census to only amalgamate built up areas linked by a direct road connection,[9] this resulted in a number of the 2011 areas being dropped. This notably included Clifton which is within the administrative area of the city, however a number of new divisions primarily formed along civil parish boundaries were created. Overall, these new areas were not enough to offset the loss with net effect of a reduction in population since 2011.[10][11]
| Urban subdivision | Population | District | County | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 census | 1991 census | 2001 census | 2011 census | 2021 census | |||
| Nottingham | 273,300 | 270,222 | 249,584 | 289,301 | 299,790 | City of Nottingham | Nottinghamshire |
| Carlton | 46,053 | 47,302 | 48,493 | 49,235 | 53,555 | Gedling | Nottinghamshire |
| Beeston | 64,785 | 66,626 | 66,683 | 51,479 | 52,355 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Ilkeston | — | — | 37,270 | 38,640 | 38,725 | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Arnold | 37,721 | 37,646 | 37,402 | 37,768 | 40,010 | Gedling | Nottinghamshire |
| Long Eaton | 42,285 | 44,826 | 46,490 | 37,760 | 37,820 | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| West Bridgford | 27,463 | 33,843 | 43,395 | 45,509 | 36,490 | Rushcliffe | Nottinghamshire |
| Hucknall | 27,463 | 29,160 | 29,188 | 32,107 | 35,840 | Ashfield | Nottinghamshire |
| Heanor | 21,863 | 22,180 | 22,620 | 25,644 | 24,260 | Amber Valley | Derbyshire |
| Ripley | 17,548 | 18,310 | 18,523 | 19,315 | 20,180 | Amber Valley | Derbyshire |
| Eastwood | 18,085 | 19,363 | 18,612 | 18,422 | 18,890 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Stapleford | — | — | — | 16,190 | 15,045 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Nuthall and Watnall | — | — | — | — | 9,585 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Sandiacre | — | — | — | 9,600 | 9,370 | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Wilford | — | — | — | — | 4,850 | City of Nottingham | Nottinghamshire |
| Edwalton | — | — | — | — | 4,760 | Rushcliffe | Nottinghamshire |
| Kimberley | 9,818 | 10,488 | 11,027 | 11,353 | 4,470 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Awsworth | — | — | — | 2,517 | 2,445 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Smalley | — | — | — | — | 2,200 | Amber Valley | Derbyshire |
| Gamston | — | — | — | — | 2,175 | Rushcliffe | Nottinghamshire |
| Trowell | — | — | 1,013 | 953 | 2,165 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Bestwood Village | — | — | — | — | 2,150 | Gedling/Ashfield | Nottinghamshire |
| Swingate | — | — | — | — | 910 | Broxtowe | Nottinghamshire |
| Denby Common | — | — | — | 495 | 455 | Amber Valley | Derbyshire |
| Linby | — | — | — | — | 350 | Gedling | Nottinghamshire |
| Papplewick | — | — | — | — | 335 | Gedling | Nottinghamshire |
| Risley | — | — | — | — | 220 | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Clifton | — | — | 22,312 | 22,407 | — | City of Nottingham | Nottinghamshire |
| Breaston | — | 7,284 | 7,305 | 7,545 | — | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Ruddington | 6,504 | 6,476 | 6,264 | 7,020 | — | Rushcliffe | Nottinghamshire |
| West Hallam | — | — | — | 6,016 | — | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Stanton-By-Dale | — | — | — | 505 | — | Erewash | Derbyshire |
| Ruddington Grange | — | — | 177 | 196 | — | Rushcliffe | Nottinghamshire |
| Total | 593,768 | 613,726 | 666,358 | 729,977 | 719,400 | ||
| Change | - | +3.36% | +8.58% | +9.55% | -1.45% | ||
- Awsworth, Breaston, Denby Common, Ilkeston, Ruddington Grange and West Hallam were independent areas until their inclusion in the table.
- Total of 1981 subdivision figures is 592,888, an additional 880 residents are unaccounted for in the census report[12] total.
- Up to the 2001 census, the Beeston subdivision included Stapleford and was named Beeston And Stapleford.
- Up to the 2001 census, Sandiacre was included as part of the Long Eaton subdivision.
- Up to the 1991 census, the Nottingham subdivision included Clifton.
- In the 2001 census, Stanton-By-Dale was included as part of the Ilkeston subdivision.
Greater Nottingham Partnership/D2N2
The local authorities collaborate in some ways. The Greater Nottingham Partnership considered Greater Nottingham to consist of the City of Nottingham plus the entirety of the Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling boroughs, along with Hucknall from Ashfield, but no part of Derbyshire, as no Derbyshire council was a member of the Partnership. They together worked as an advisory and lobbying body for projects and decisions involving the region. However it was axed due to funding in 2011 and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership is instead assuming those functions with cross-county political and local business support.[13]
Nottingham-Derby 2011 metropolitan area
The conurbation forms a large part of the Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 1.5 million.[14] The urban areas of both Derby and Nottingham are almost continuous with Draycott (part of the Breaston Urban sub-division) being almost continuous with the Borrowash part of the Derby Urban Area.[15] The Mansfield Urban Area also forms part of this metropolitan area, although it is not continuous with the Nottingham Urban Area. However, it is almost continuous with the Alfreton/South Normanton Built-up area, which had a population of 41,289 according to the last census,[15] with the South Normanton/Pinxton Urban sub-division of the Alfreton Urban Area being almost continuous with the Sutton-in-Ashfield Urban sub-division of the Mansfield Urban Area. The Alfreton Urban Area is also nearly continuous with Ripley part of the Nottingham Urban Area. Other minor urban areas to the west of the Ripley, Heanor and West Hallam sub divisions daisy-chain towards Derby from the north, notably Belper, Kilburn and Crich/Heage. See the maps above for a demonstration of these BUAs in close proximity.