The places included in the Key Statistics for urban area reports range in size from 1,500 residents to the largest agglomeration - Greater London. Key Statistics for those with 20,000 or more residents are in the printed report for England and Wales, whilst results for all urban areas appear in four further volumes - the North, the Midlands, the South East, and the South West and Wales.
Which places are included? - the definition of an urban area for the Census
The reports have information about the definition of the places included - essentially a 'bricks and mortar' approach, also used in 1981 and 1991, which identifies areas of urban land use of 20 hectares or more with 1,500 or more residents. This allows the dynamics of towns and cities from 1981 to 2001 to be studied, although the reports contain advice on changes between the Censuses and on geographical detail which may affect comparisons.
The release of results for populations outside urban areas is for completeness and for comparison with other Census results, and 'rural' areas as such are not defined for the reports. A Government working party published a new definition and classification of rural and urban areas in the summer of 2004, but a final version was not available at the time the Key Statistics reports went to press.
Smaller settlements with fewer than 10,000 residents defined as urban areas in the Key Statistics reports are included in the definition of rural areas, but the definition is compatible with the reports, in part through the common use of Output Areas as building bricks.