Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
 Click here for Shopping
List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
*** Shopping-Tip: List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
A conurbation is formed when towns expand sufficiently that their urban areas join up with each other. This process has happened many times in the United Kingdom, with London being the most famous example of this type of development.
Green Belt (UK) Green Belts were introduced in the 20th century to try to stop new conurbations forming. Clear conurbations however, exist at
* South East Dorset conurbation - Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch in Dorset
* Central Lancashire - Preston, Leyland and Chorley
* Fylde Coast - Blackpool, Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton, Lancashire Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lytham St Annes
* Greater Glasgow - Glasgow and suburbs
* Leeds/ Bradford in West Yorkshire
* London, Greater London and London commuter belt
* Greater Manchester conurbation, including City of Manchester, City of Salford, Trafford, etc
* Medway towns ( Chatham, Kent Chatham, Rochester, Kent Rochester, Gillingham, Medway Gillingham)
* Greater Merseyside conurbation, centred on Liverpool in Merseyside, also includes Ellesmere Port and Neston, Halton (borough) Halton and St Helens.
* Brighton urban area on the Sussex coast, including Littlehampton, Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Peacehaven, Brighton and Hove
* Greater Portsmouth - including Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham, Portchester, Havant, Waterlooville
* The Potteries, including Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove.
* Greater Nottingham - including Arnold, Nottinghamshire Arnold, Hucknall, Beeston, Nottinghamshire Beeston, West Bridgford, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire Eastwood and Long Eaton
* Sheffield/ Rotherham area in South Yorkshire
*Greater Southampton - including Eastleigh, Hedge End, Totton and Eling
* Teesside - Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees
* Torbay - Paignton, Torquay
* Tyne and Wear conurbation, including Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sunderland, Gateshead
* West Midlands conurbation West Midlands conurbation, including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country, Cannock and Solihull
In all of these, regardless of local government, towns that have become part of the conurbation have retained clear identities as separate towns. In England, some of these are recognised as metropolitan counties (Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, West Yorkshire), alongside Greater London which has a similar status. Others have become unified local government districts (such as Torbay, Medway).
There is a spectrum that can be drawn between the conurbations that have a clear 'head' (such as Nottingham, Portsmouth, Southampton) to those that are do not - known as multi-centred conurbations (such as Bournemouth/Poole and Teesside) - via ones that are more borderline (Tyne and Wear, West Midlands). In the case of the West Midlands, for example, the 'centre' city, Birmingham did expand massively and is now considered to include areas that were formerly independent towns, such as Sutton Coldfield and Aston, West Midlands Aston. However, here it stopped, with the Black Country and Wolverhampton retaining strong identities.
In various parts of the country are more borderline cases, where the areas expanded into did not necessarily have strong identities as towns. However, the areas do retain separate local government structures, and therefore can be considered conurbations on this basis :
* Greater Bristol - Bristol, Kingswood, South Gloucestershire Kingswood, etc
*Greater Leicester, including Birstall, Leicestershire Birstall, Syston, Oadby and Wigston, Glenfield, Leicestershire Glenfield, Braunstone
* Reading, Berkshire Reading - including Reading, Woodley, Earley, Calcot, Purley-on-Thames (and perhaps Wokingham)
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 :
* South Hampshire, consisting of the Portsmouth and Southampton areas mentioned above, was considered for metropolitan county status in the 1970s
* West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, which are both heavily built up but not entirely devoid of countryside (both are metropolitan counties)
The entire Merseyside/ Warrington/ Greater Manchester area is probably about as built up as West Yorkshire. There are gaps of countryside between towns on the way from Liverpool to Manchester, but not especially big ones. The area between is protected as part of a Green Belt, to stop the conurbation proceeding further.
Smaller examples of conurbations also exist on a more local level. For example, Warwick runs into Leamington Spa, Luton runs into Dunstable, and Grimsby runs into Cleethorpes.
By population
According to ONS urban area figures (which only cover England and Wales)
* London Greater London Urban Area - 8,278,251
* West Midlands conurbation West Midlands Urban Area - 2,284,093
* Greater Manchester Urban Area - 2,244,931
* West Yorkshire Urban Area - 1,499,465
* Tyneside - 879,996
* Liverpool Urban Area - 816,216
* Greater Nottingham Nottingham Urban Area - 666,358
* Sheffield Urban Area - 640,720
* Greater Bristol Bristol Urban Area - 551,066
* Sussex Coast Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton - 461,181
* Greater Portsmouth Portsmouth Urban Area - 442,252
* Leicester Urban Area - 441,213
* South East Dorset conurbation Bournemouth Urban Area - 383,713
* Reading/Wokingham Urban Area - 369,804
* Teesside - 365,323
* The Potteries - 362,403
* Coventry/Bedworth Urban Area - 336,452
* Cardiff Urban Area - 327,706
* Birkenhead Urban Area - 319,675
* Greater Southampton Southampton Urban Area - 304,400
* Kingston upon Hull - 301,416
* Swansea Urban Area - 270,506
* Southend Urban Area - 269,415
* Preston Urban Area - 264,601
* Greater Blackpool Blackpool Urban Area - 261,088
* Plymouth - 243,795
* Aldershot Urban Area - 243,344
* Derby Urban Area - 236,738
* Luton/Dunstable Urban Area - 236,318
* Medway Medway Towns Urban Area - 231,659
* Dearne Valley (South Yorkshire) Dearne Valley Urban Area - 207,726
* Northampton Urban Area - 197,199
* Norwich Urban Area - 194,839
* Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Urban Area - 184,506
See also
* UK topics
Category:Geography of the United Kingdom
*** Shopping-Tip: List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
|
|
|
