
The Nottingham Built-up Area (BUA), Nottingham Urban Area, or Greater Nottingham is an area of land defined by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible fo ...
as built-up land
with a minimum area of 20 hectares (200,000 m
2), while settlements within 200 metres of each other are linked. It consists of the city of
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
and the adjoining urban areas of
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
and
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, in the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...
of England. It had a total population of 729,977 at the time of the
2011 census.
This was an increase of almost 10% since the
2001 census recorded population of 666,358, due to population increases, reductions and several new sub-divisions.
Geography
Greater Nottingham is largely within the three
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
of
Rushcliffe
Rushcliffe is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south Nottinghamshire, England. Its council is based in West Bridgford. The borough also includes the towns of Bingh ...
,
Broxtowe and
Gedling surrounding the city, though the area spills into the Nottinghamshire district of
Ashfield, and also to the
Amber Valley
Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of ...
and
Erewash districts of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. The Nottingham Urban Area is, by the ONS' figures, the 8th largest in England (
9th in the UK), with a population size between that of the
Tyneside
Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...
and
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
built-up areas, and a total area of .
The Nottingham Urban Area is bounded to the west by a narrow gap between
Draycott (to the west of the
Breaston
Breaston ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Erewash, Erewash district, in the south-east of Derbyshire and lies approximately east of the city of Derby and west of the city of Nottingham. The population of the civil paris ...
urban area sub-division) and
Borrowash (to the east of the
Derby Urban Area). The Heanor/Ripley and West Hallam north-western extensions have a somewhat tenuous linkage through to the core of Nottingham City largely due to
ribbon development, and are in close proximity to other nearby urban areas which together, almost link to
Derby
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
from the north.
Sub-divisions do not always match administrative geographic boundaries; the subdivision of Clifton for example is within the
Nottingham Unitary Authority city area but is subdivided by the
River Trent
The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
. The Nottingham subdivision oversteps the city's borders at several locations. Together, these two subdivisions exceed the official city population (305,680 in 2011) as a result, even though West Bridgford includes the counts of city suburbs
Silverdale and
Wilford.
In the 1991 census,
Ilkeston was considered outside of the Nottingham Urban Area,
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, as much of the area between the cities is protected
green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
and
wedges, restricting actual development.
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
In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) were voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead ec ...
is instead assuming those functions with cross-county political and local business support.
Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area

The conurbation forms a large part of the Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 1.5 million.
The urban areas of both
Derby
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
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.
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,
[ with the South Normanton/ Pinxton Urban sub-division of the Alfreton Urban Area being almost continuous with the ]Sutton-in-Ashfield
Sutton-in-Ashfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England, with a population of 36,404 in 2021. It is the largest town in the district of Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, Ashfield, four miles west of Mansfield, from the Derbyshire border and ...
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
Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft, Derbyshire, Wheatcroft. The population of the civi ...
/ Heage. See the maps above for a demonstration of these BUAs in close proximity.
See also
* Derby Built-up area
* Nottingham and Derby Green Belt
* List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
*List of metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom
A 2001 ESPON metropolitan area was defined as consisting of an urban area, conurbation or urban agglomeration, agglomeration, together with the surrounding area to which it was closely economically and socially integrated through commuting.
The ...
References
External links
Scalable map highlighting the 2011 Nottingham BUA and subdivisions
Office for National Statistics: Census 2001, Key Statistics for urban areas
Top 50 Urban Areas - 1991 Census
Map depicting ONS definition
Nottingham Insight - Key datasets
{{Coord, 52.96, -1.15, type:adm3rd_dim:15000_region:GB-NGM, display=title
Nottingham
Geography of Nottinghamshire
Urban areas of England
Geography of Derbyshire
Borough of Erewash
Amber Valley
Rushcliffe
Gedling
Borough of Broxtowe
Ashfield District