Defra

The Rural-Urban Definition

Description

Detailed guidance on the Rural-Urban Definition, explaining how and when to apply it. This publication outlines the methodology for classifying areas as rural or urban.

Policy areas

Environment Housing and planning

Update cadence

Ad hoc

Subject area

Rural and urban statistics

Publisher

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Published

24 March 2011

Data files

File	Type	Size
Rural Urban Definition Methodology Intro	pdf	87 KB
Rural Urban Definition Methodology Technical	pdf	2.5 MB

Data files last checked: 28 May 2026

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