Identification info

Metadata Language

English

Character set

UTF8

Dataset Reference Date (Revision)

2024-12-16

Identifier

www.gov.scot / SG_UrbanRural

Presentation form

Digital map

Maintenance and update frequency

As needed

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

• Population distribution — demography

GEMET - Concepts, version 2.4

• urban area

• rural area

IPSV Subjects List

• Rural communities

• Urban communities

Limitations on Public Access

Other restrictions

Other constraints

No limitations to public access

Use constraints

Other restrictions

Other constraints

Open Government Licence

Other constraints

Available under the terms of the Open Government Licence. The following attribution statement must be used to acknowledge the source of the information: Copyright Scottish Government, contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year).

Spatial representation type

Vector

Denominator

10000

Topic category

• Society

Code

S92000003

Additional information

http://www.gov.scot/urbanrural

 

Code

EPSG:4258

Code

EPSG:27700

Distribution Information

 

Data quality info

Quality Scope

Dataset

Statement

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification was created by combining population and accessibility information to distinguish between urban and rural areas across Scotland. Population information is sourced from the Settlements dataset provided by National Records of Scotland (NRS), and accessibility information is obtained by calculating drive times from the centres of Settlements with a population of 10,000 or more (i.e. urban areas). Datasets used to create the classification are as follows:

• Scottish Settlements, centroids and population estimates (NRS)

• English Settlement centroids for populations of 10,000 or more (i.e. Berwick-upon-Tweed and Carlisle, Ordnance Survey)

• Transport network for Scotland and major routes for Northern England (Ordnance Survey)

• Scottish Ferry Routes (Scottish Government)

• High and Low Water Mark Coastline (Ordnance Survey)

The first stage in creating the classification was to categorise the Settlements dataset using the population thresholds of 125,000, 10,000 and 3,000 to identify those settlements from which drive times will be calculated. Settlements were grouped into the following categories:

(1) Large Urban Areas - populations of 125,000 or more

(2) Other Urban Areas - populations of 10,000 to 124,999

(3) Small Towns - populations of 3,000 to 9,999

(4) Rural Areas - populations less than 3,000

To distinguish between accessible and remote areas, drive time isochrones were created based on a 30 minute drive time from population weighted centroids of Settlements with a population of 10,000 or more (i.e. Large and Other Urban Areas, and including the two settlements in northern England of Berwick-upon-Tweed and Carlisle). For the 8-fold Classification, an additional 60 minute drive time was also calculated. Thus, the following definitions of remoteness were defined:

(1) Accessible - Areas within a 30 minute drive time from Settlements of 10,000 or more

(2) Remote - Areas that are more than a 30 minute drive time (6-fold classification), or areas that have a drive time between 30 and 60 minutes (8-fold classification) from a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(3) Very Remote - Areas that are more than a 60 minute drive time from a Settlement of 10,000 or more (8-fold only)

Combining both the population and accessibility measures, a Scotland-wide Urban Rural Classification can be defined. The 6-fold classification distinguishes between urban, rural and remote areas by the following categories:

(1) Large Urban Areas - Settlements of 125,000 people or more

(2) Other Urban Areas - Settlements of 10,000 to 124,999 people

(3) Accessible Small Towns - Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(4) Remote Small Towns - Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(5) Accessible Rural Areas – Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(6) Remote Rural Areas - Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

An 8-fold classification is also defined, which distinguishes between Remote and Very Remote areas by the addition of a 60 minute drive time threshold. The categories for the 8-fold classification are as follows:

(1) Large Urban Areas - Settlements of 125,000 people and over

(2) Other Urban Areas - Settlements of 10,000 to 124,999 people

(3) Accessible Small Towns - Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and within a 30 minute drive time of a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(4) Remote Small Towns - Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes but less than or equal to 60 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(5) Very Remote Small Towns - Settlements of 3,000 to 9,999 people, and with a drive time of over 60 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(6) Accessible Rural Areas - Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and within a drive time of 30 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(7) Remote Rural Areas - Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and with a drive time of over 30 minutes but less than or equal to 60 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

(8) Very Remote Rural Areas - Areas with a population of less than 3,000 people, and with a drive time of over 60 minutes to a Settlement of 10,000 or more

For further details on the methodology, please see publication report accessible from the main Urban Rural Classification topic page on the Scottish Government’s website.

 

Metadata

File identifier

564db46c-3153-423c-ac84-90d41ec2652c XML

Metadata Language

English

Resource type

Dataset

Metadata Date

2024-12-16T12:20:42.93Z

Metadata standard name

UK GEMINI

Metadata standard version

2.3