Place-based policy approaches to population challenges: Lessons for Scotland
This report by the independent Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population analyses a range of place-based policy approaches to population challenges (including zonal approaches), and sets out lessons for Scotland.
Annex 1: The implications of changes in the Scottish Government’s urban-rural classification of 2020
In a previous report (Designing a Pilot Remote and Rural Migration Scheme for Scotland: Analysis and Policy Options, EAG 2021) the relationship between population change (by data-zone) and degree of rurality and remoteness was illustrated by an analysis based upon the 2016 urban-rural classification. Earlier this year an updated version of the classification, based upon the settlement data for 2020, was published. We have used this in the analysis presented in this report.
The main (reclassification) changes affecting rural and small-town Scotland are a substantial reduction in the number of data-zones classified as being within remote small towns, an increase in the number of accessible rural data-zones, and a reduction in the number classified as remote rural. These changes in the classification of data-zones impact mainly upon remote small towns, where the 2021 population is more than one-third smaller according to the 2020 classification. Remote rural areas show a reduction in population of more than 12%, while accessible rural areas gain almost 4% through re-classification.
| Data-zones | Population 2021 ('000) | Classification Change | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-R 2016 | U-R 2020 | Change | U-R 2016 | % | U-R 2020 | % | '000 Persons | % | |
| Large Urban | 2,294 | 2,496 | 202 | 1,909 | 34.83 | 2,061 | 37.61 | 152 | 7.99 |
| Other Urban | 2,615 | 2,459 | -156 | 1,953 | 35.64 | 1,844 | 33.65 | -109 | -5.59 |
| Accessible Small Towns | 609 | 613 | 4 | 471 | 8.60 | 471 | 8.59 | -1 | -0.12 |
| Remote Small Towns | 159 | 104 | -55 | 125 | 2.29 | 79 | 1.45 | -46 | -36.60 |
| Very Remote Small Towns | 98 | 98 | 0 | 65 | 1.19 | 65 | 1.19 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Accessible Rural | 774 | 805 | 31 | 637 | 11.62 | 661 | 12.06 | 24 | 3.81 |
| Remote Rural | 222 | 197 | -25 | 168 | 3.07 | 148 | 2.70 | -20 | -12.05 |
| Very Remote Rural | 205 | 204 | -1 | 152 | 2.77 | 151 | 2.76 | -1 | -0.48 |
| Scotland | 6,976 | 6,976 | 0 | 5,480 | 100.00 | 5,480 | 100.00 | 0 | 0.00 |
| SPA | 159 | 159 | 0 | 112 | 2.04 | 112 | 2.04 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Very Remote Rural Non-SPA | 46 | 45 | -1 | 40 | 0.73 | 39 | 0.72 | -1 | -1.84 |
Contact
Email: population@gov.scot
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback