The City of Sheffield is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distric ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

, the town of

Stocksbridge Stocksbridge is a town and civil parish, in the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies just to the east of the Peak District. The town is located in the steep-sided valley of ...

and larger village of Chapeltown and part of the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, whe ...

. It has a population of 584,853 (mid-2019 est), making it technically the third

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

in England by population behind

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, since

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

is not considered a single entity. It is governed by Sheffield City Council. The current city boundaries were set on 1 April 1974 by the provisions of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, as part a reform of

local government in England Local government in England broadly consists of three layers: regional authorities, local authorities and parish councils. Legislation concerning English local government is passed by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament, as England does n ...

. The city is a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspec ...

of two former local government districts; the unitary City and County Borough of Sheffield combined with the

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

and parts of the

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the a ...

of Wortley from the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. For its first 12 years the city had a two-tier system of local government; Sheffield City Council shared power with

South Yorkshire County Council The South Yorkshire County Council (SYCC) — also known as South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council — was the top-tier local government authority for the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire from 1 April 1974 to 31 March 1986. A strategic ...

. Since the

Local Government Act 1985 The Local Government Act 1985 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Its main effect was to abolish the six county councils of the metropolitan counties that had been set up in 1974, 11 years earlier, by the Local Government Act 1972 ...

Sheffield City Council has effectively been a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, serving as the sole

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive di ...

deliberative Deliberative rhetoric (Greek: ''genos'' ''symbouleutikon;'' Latin: ''genus deliberativum,'' sometimes called legislative oratory) is one of the three kinds of rhetoric described by Aristotle. Deliberative rhetoric juxtaposes potential future outcome ...

and

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

body responsible for local policy, setting council tax, and allocating budget in the city, and is a member of the Sheffield City Region Partnership. The City of Sheffield is divided into three

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

es and a single unparished area.

Geography

The present city boundaries were set in 1974 (with slight modification in 1994), when the former

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

of Sheffield merged with

Urban District Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

and two parishes from the

Wortley Rural District Wortley was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974, situated to the north-west of the county borough of Sheffield. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the parishes of Bradfield and E ...

. This area includes a significant part of the countryside surrounding the main urban region. Roughly a third of Sheffield lies in the Peak District National Park. No other English city had parts of a national park within its boundary, until the creation in March 2010 of the South Downs National Park, part of which lies within Brighton and Hove.

Governance

Sheffield City Council is the local authority of the district. The council is composed of 84 councillors, three for each of the city's 28 wards. It is currently under No Overall Control. The City was under Labour control from its creation until 1999, when the Liberal Democrats took control of the council. The Labour Party regained control of the Council in 2002 with power shifting back to the Liberal Democrats in 2008. However, Labour took control once again in 2011. Following the 2021 elections the Council is now in No Overall Control. As a

metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

, South Yorkshire does not have a county council, so Sheffield City Council is the primary provider of local government services. The district forms part of the

Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York. It is ...

region of England. Most of the district is an unparished area, comprising Sheffield itself (the area of the former county borough). In the unparished area there is no lower tier of government. Outside the unparished area there are 3

es, represented by parish councils. These form the lowest tier of local government. The 3 civil parishes are: The district is represented by five MPs, for the constituencies of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, Sheffield Central, Sheffield Hallam, Sheffield Heeley, Sheffield South East all currently represented by Labour. The consistuency of Penistone and Stocksbridge is partially in the City of Sheffield and is represented by the Conservatives.

Demography

The latest () population estimate for the City of Sheffield is residents.

Transport

Parts of the city are covered by the Sheffield Supertram light rail

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

network.

Notes and references

References Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield, City of Cities in Yorkshire and the Humber Local government districts in South Yorkshire Metropolitan boroughs