You asked
I would like to know the number of people residing within defined (geodesic or other) distances of urban centres (within e.g. 100 km of 'London', 60 km of Birmingham, etc), and how this is calculated.
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding the number of people residing within defined distances of urban centres.
We don’t hold this information however our Geography department have used a method in the past which produces a rough estimates by best-fitting population weighted centroids (with population figures attached such as census figures or perhaps mid-year estimates) to a buffer around the city points. They can provide this for England & Wales rather than at a UK level.
If you would be interested in receiving any data using this methodology, please contact the Geography team directly on ONS.Geography@ons.gov.uk setting out any specific requirements.
If you require anything else, please contact us on pop.info@ons.gov.uk and we will get back to you.