Scottish Settlements Urban and Rural Areas in Scotland

Annex B - History of Definition of 'Urban' Areas at National Records of Scotland

Since 1991

10. We have maintained the 1991 locality and the urban-rural code on our postcode index. Any new postcode is assigned (by point-in-polygon) to the 1991 locality into which its centroid falls.

11. We have also been tidying up the boundaries of postcodes on the edge of a 1991 locality. The aim is to redraw the boundary of any postcode that includes both a built up area and a large tract of unpopulated land so as to exclude the latter. This will help in enumeration district planning for 2001, as it helps ensure that an urban enumeration district can be mapped more simply than if the enumeration district included both urban and rural territory. In terms of differentiating between urban and rural parts of Scotland, it also provides a far more robust solution.