4. Changes with this Release

The Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification was last produced based on 2020 Settlements. This updated version is reflective of Census 2022 Settlements. The differences between the classifications stem from changes to Settlement populations and Settlement boundaries and, to a lesser extent, changes to the road network, the speeds datasets, and the software/parameters used.  The Settlements used in this classification were created based on Census 2022 population data instead of Mid-Year Estimates, and did not involve consultation with councils. One-off changes have been made to two Census 2022 Settlements, Dunoon and Innellan, and Garelochhead, to improve comparability with the Settlements created from Mid-Year Estimates which have been used in previous Urban Rural classifications.

Dunoon and Innellan

Dunoon and Innellan are both located on the east coast of the Cowal peninsula, in the Argyll and Bute council area. Between the main built-up areas of Dunoon and Innellan is a long, thin strip of houses running along the coast for around three kilometres.

Settlements are based on measuring the density of each postcode in Scotland and combining groups of dense postcodes that are bordering each other. The houses between Dunoon and Innellan are close enough to count as dense areas, connecting the two settlements in the methodology.

From consultation with Argyll and Bute Council, and inspection of the area, the two areas were deemed to be separate settlements for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 sets. This was mainly because of the thinness of the connection, and several significant gaps in the row of houses. As a result, the settlement boundaries were manually adjusted to exclude the area in between.

The Census Settlements did not involve consultation with councils, and so joined Dunoon and Innellan into one Settlement. The combined population of these two areas would be enough to change their classification if counted as one, from a separate Small Town (Dunoon) and a Rural Area (Innellan) to a combined Other Urban Area (Dunoon and Innellan).

For consistency with previous Urban Rural Classifications, the 2022 SGUR has reversed the change in classification in the Census and counted Dunoon and Innellan as two separate areas by removing the NRS Census 2022 Locality of Innellan from the combined Dunoon, Innellan, and Sandbanks Settlement area.

Garelochhead

The Settlement of Garelochhead in Argyll and Bute includes a large naval base, HMNB Clyde. Personnel at armed forces bases are counted differently between the Census and the annual Small Area Population Estimates (SAPE). More of the armed forces are counted at their home address in the Census, while the SAPE counts more at the bases.

In the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Urban Rural Classifications, areas were assigned to categories (Large Urban Areas, Other Urban Areas, Small Towns, Rural Areas) using population counts from SAPE. The 2022 Urban Rural Classification uses Census 2022 data for its classification. However, the difference in counts of personnel at HMNB Clyde is enough to change the classification of Garelochhead.  As this change is only caused by a difference in methodology rather than an actual change in population in the area, the 2022 SGUR has given Garelochhead the same classification as in 2020.

Other Settlements with armed forces bases were also investigated, but Garelochhead was the only one where this issue affects the Urban Rural Classification.

Settlement Changes

The classification of a particular area will change if the Settlement population crosses the 3,000, 10,000 or 125,000 thresholds which are used to distinguish between urban and rural areas.  Of the 504 Settlements identified in Scotland based on Census 2022 data, the population of ten had increased or decreased enough by 2022 to pass one of the key population thresholds.  These changes are shown in Table 4.1 below.  

These changes in population impacted the total number of centroids used for the drive time calculations.  There were a total of 71 centroids used to calculate drive times in the 2020 classification.  This decreased to 66 centroids for the 2022 classification.  The difference was due to the removal of three Settlements centroids for Nairn, Moodiesburn & Chryston, and Stranraer and the addition of two Settlements centroids for Bishopton and Forres.

Furthermore, there have been three mergers of Settlements; the three separate Settlements of Motherwell & Wishaw, Coatbridge, Airdrie, Chapelhall, and Bargeddie, and Hamilton have been merged to form the single Settlement of Airdrie, Hamilton, and Motherwell.  The separate Settlements of Bonnybridge and Cumbernauld & Croy have been merged to form the single Settlement of Bonnybridge, Croy, & Cumbernauld.  The separate Settlements of Kilwinning and Saltcoats have been merged to form the single Settlement of Kilwinning & Saltcoats.

The populations of Nairn, Moodiesburn & Chryston, and Stranraer decreased beneath the threshold of 10,000 between 2020 and 2022, making them ineligible for inclusion in the drive time calculations.  The populations of Bishopton and Forres increased above the 10,000 threshold between 2020 and 2022, making them eligible for inclusion in the drive time calculations.  The three Settlement mergers have not caused any new Settlement centroids to be included in the analyses, as all of these Settlements were well above the 10,000 population threshold prior to the mergers.

The biggest impact on service areas appears to be the removal of Stranraer, which has caused a significant change to the measured accessibility of the south-west of Scotland; changing it from predominantly Accessible Rural to predominantly Very Remote Rural.  No other significant changes due to the Settlement centroids changes have been observed; both Bishopton and Forres are well within the drive time of other 10,000+ Settlements, as are all of the merged Settlements.

Road Network Changes

Road Speeds

Previous iterations of the Urban Rural Classification have been produced using road networks which have an average speed assigned to each road link based on its type (shown in Table 4.2). The average speed figures were sourced from the then UK Government Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions now the Department for Transport. The 2022 Urban Rural Classification has been produced using the OS NGD Transport Network, which includes indicative and average speeds for each road link within the dataset. This functionality represents an improvement over the previous speeds data used in the Urban Rural Classification. The OS NGD Transport Network indicative and average speeds are actual measured speeds which account for variation in travel time at different times of the day and of the week (e.g. peak and off-peak, weekends, weekdays, etc.), and variation in road type, and rural and urban road settings.  For the purposes of the 2022 analyses, the Weekday Off-Peak speeds have been used.  A small percentage of higher geography assignments (e.g. post code, Output Area, Data Zones) which have centroids near the boundaries of the drive times may be impacted by this change.  Note that the 2-fold classification is unaffected by changes in drive times, as it is based solely on Settlement populations.

Analysis of Data Zone changes

One of the most common uses of the Classification is the assignment of urban rural categories to Data Zones, which is the core geography used for the dissemination of small area statistics in Scotland.  More information on the Data Zone geography can be found on the Spatial.Data.gov.scot website.  It is therefore interesting to note the changes in category assignments between versions of the classifications, particularly Data Zones which swap between the 2-fold categories of Rest of Scotland and Rural Scotland.  There were previously 6,976 Data Zones in Scotland based on the 2011 Census.  For comparison purposes with the previous Urban Rural Classification, each 2011 Data Zone can be assigned to an urban rural category based upon the location of its population weighted centroid. There are 37 Data Zones which have changed from being classified as Rural in 2020 to Urban in 2022 (i.e. 0.53% of all 2011 Data Zones), and 8 which have changed from Urban in 2020 to Rural in 2022 (i.e. 0.11% of all Data Zones).

Note that Data Zones have now been updated based on the Census 2022 data.  There are now 7,392 Data Zones in Scotland.  Each 2022 Data Zone has been assigned to an Urban Rural 2022 category based upon the location of its population weighted centroid, and a lookup is available in the supporting documents section of the publication. 

Please note; the Postcode 2024_2 to SGUR_2022 lookup will only be available as a supporting document temporarily.  This is due to a new release of NRS Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) which will be published in early 2025.  If the Postcode 2024_2 to SGUR_2022 lookup is not available as a supporting document, users are advised to access the latest SPD from the NRS website, which will have a postcode to SGUR 2022 lookup incorporated.