Urban-Rural Classification of UK gridded population at 1 km resolution for 2021 based on Census 2021/2022 and Land Cover Map 2021

This dataset contains gridded population estimates for the UK at 1 km x 1 km resolution, disaggregated by urban and rural classification, based on the 2021 UK census (2022 for Scotland) and Land Cover Map 2021 input data. It is related to the UK gridded population dataset, sharing the same Output Area-level census inputs, Land Cover Map 2021 land-use classes, and 1 km British National Grid (OSGB36) output framework. This dataset separates the gridded estimates into urban and rural populations, based on the rural/urban classification of the source Output Areas.

In addition to this simple, binary urban/rural split, the dataset retains more detailed classifications, where available. England & Wales uses a 6-fold classification (Urban, Larger Rural and Smaller Rural, each split by accessibility to a larger town or city). Scotland an 8-fold classification that further distinguishes Accessible, Remote and Very Remote areas by drive time to the nearest substantial settlement. Northern Ireland has no official Output Area/Data Zone-level rural-urban classification, so only the binary Urban/Rural split (derived from NISRA's 2015 Settlement Development Limits) is available there.

Each 1 km grid cell also includes the underlying proportion of urban and rural Output Areas, allowing the population estimates to be compared to the area coverage. Population totals at each processing step were checked against official 2021/2022 Census totals, so that the summed urban and rural (and intermediate category) grids reproduce the official Census population count for the UK in 2021/2022.