Rural Scotland Business Panel Survey February 2023

Appendix C – Map of urban-rural classifications

The map shows 6-fold Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification which distinguishes between urban, rural, and remote areas through six categories. The map shows that 70% of Scotland’s land area is remote rural (category 6), and 28% is accessible rural (category 5). Only 2% of the land area is classified as a small town or urban area (categories 1-4).^[13] Accessible areas are defined as those areas that are within a 30 minute drive time from a settlement with a population of 10,000 or more. Remote areas have a drive time which is greater than 30 minutes.