Introduction to Urban Audit
Urban Audit is an established source of information about cities in Europe. Comparable figures on a
variety of themes are collected by individual nations and supplied to Eurostat, the statistical office of
the European Union, for publication. The value of Urban Audit lies in the streamlined methodology
of the data collection, despite very different sources, allowing comparison with other cites beyond
national frontiers. Urban Audit is funded by the European Commission, whose aim is to measure and
improve city life by understanding our urban environments and sharing experiences1.
The Geography of Urban Audit V
The fifth and most recent round of Urban Audit, 2010-2012, (UAV) builds on the geography of
previous collections. Data are now available for more than 800 cities across the EU-28, as well as
Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, at four geographic levels:

Core City: comprising towns as well as cities, boundaries are based on administrative units to
maximise the availability of data

Greater City: created for some cities where the continuous urban area extends beyond the Core City

Larger Urban Zone (LUZ): created for some cities to represent the wider functional economic area
surrounding the Core City or Greater City based on its commuting zone

Sub-City district: the neighbourhoods within Core Cities with a population of greater than 250,000
people
The result is a harmonised geographic reference that allows statistics to be compared in a
meaningful way across Europe. This is particularly important for analysing data on air pollution, for
example, that do not recognise political frontiers.
Urban Audit V in the UK
Urban Audit V features 163 Core Cities in the UK. Of these, 11 have a Greater City, while 39 have a
Larger Urban Zone. All boundaries align with whole or groups of local/unitary authorities in England
and Wales, Council Areas in Scotland and District Council Areas in Northern Ireland. Data for Sub-City
Districts, whose boundaries are based on Middle Layer Super Output Areas in England and Wales
(and equivalent areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland), are collected for 30 Core Cities.
Geographic Boundary Data and Interactive Map
In order to promote the use of the Urban Audit V geography, ONS have made the Great Britain
boundary files available on its Open Geography Portal. These are published as spatial datasets, with
metadata and an associated lookup table. They are useful for analysing not only the UAV Eurostat
variables, but other data at local and district level, in order to better understand cities and towns. A
supporting dynamic map for visualising the UAV GB boundaries has also been produced, which
requires no propriety mapping software. Please visit ONS Maps at ArcGIS for more information.
Annex A provides a static version of the map, while Annex B contains the city lists.
1
For more information see www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/urban-audit/index.html
Annex A: Urban Audit V geography of Great Britain
Annex B: Full list of Urban Audit Core Cities:
Core Cities:
Aberdeen
Ashford
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Barnsley
Blackpool
Bolton
Bournemouth
Bracknell Forest
Bradford
Brent
Brighton and Hove
Bristol
Bromley
Burnley
Bury
Cambridge
Camden
Cannock Chase
Cardiff
Carlisle
Chelmsford
Cheltenham
City of London
Colchester
Coventry
Crawley
Croydon
Dacorum
(Hemel Hempstead)
Darlington
Derby
Derry
Doncaster
Dudley
Dundee City
Ealing
East Staffordshire
(Burton upon Trent)
Eastbourne
Edinburgh
Enfield
Exeter
Falkirk
Fareham
Gateshead
Glasgow
Gloucester
Gravesham (Gravesend)
Great Yarmouth
Greenwich
Guildford
Hackney
Halton (Widnes/Runcorn)
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Cheshire West and Chester
Chesterfield
Harlow
Harrow
Basildon
Basingstoke and Deane
Bath and North East Somerset
Bedford
Belfast
Bexley
Birmingham
Blackburn with Darwen
Hartlepool
Hastings
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Hyndburn (Accrington)
Ipswich
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Thames
Kirklees (Huddersfield)
Lambeth
Leeds
Leicester
Lewisham
Lincoln
Lisburn
Liverpool
Luton
Maidstone
Manchester
Mansfield
Medway
Merton
Middlesbrough
Milton Keynes
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newham
Newport
North East Lincolnshire
(Grimsby)
North Lanarkshire
Core Cities, continued:
North Tyneside
Northampton
Norwich
Nottingham
Nuneaton and Bedworth
Oldham
Oxford
Peterborough
Plymouth
Poole
Portsmouth
Preston
Reading
Redbridge
Redditch
Richmond upon Thames
Rochdale
Rotherham
Salford
Sandwell
Sefton (Southport)
Sheffield
Slough
Solihull
South Tyneside
Southampton
Southend-on-Sea
Southwark
St Albans
St. Helens
Stevenage
Stockport
Stockton-on-Tees
Stoke-on-Trent
Sunderland
Sutton
Swansea
Swindon
Tameside
Tamworth
Telford and Wrekin
Thanet
Thurrock
Torbay
Tower Hamlets
Trafford
Tunbridge Wells
Wakefield
Walsall
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Warrington
Warwick
Waveney (Lowestoft)
Westminster
Wigan
Wirral
Woking
Wolverhampton
Worcester
Worthing
Wrexham
Wycombe
York
Greater Cities:
Greater Manchester
Greater Nottingham
Leicester
Liverpool
London
Portsmouth
Preston
Reading
Southend-on-Sea
Tyneside conurbation
West Midlands urban area
Larger Urban Zones:
Aberdeen
Belfast
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Bournemouth
Brighton and Hove
Bristol
Burnley
Cambridge
Cardiff
Cheltenham
Cheshire West and Chester
Coventry
Derby
Edinburgh
Exeter
Glasgow
Greater Manchester
Greater Nottingham
Hastings
Ipswich
Kingston upon Hull
Leeds
Leicester
Lincoln
Liverpool
London
Middlesbrough
Newport
Norwich
Portsmouth
Preston
Reading
Sheffield
Southampton
Stoke-on-Trent
Swansea
Tyneside conurbation
West Midlands urban area
Please see ONS Open Geography Portal for downloadable boundary files and lookup tables.