OS Open Built Up Areas
What OS Open Built Up Areas provides you with
Statistical analysis underpinning delivery of government policy
Built Up Areas are used to analyse census data to understand their characteristics and output a range of statistics, informing government policy.
GSS codes deliver value across government departments
GSS codes enable you to link statistics across government departments to Built Up Areas, improving consistency and accuracy for decision making and planning.
Monitoring change over time
Monitor your data related to Built Up Areas over time to improve your understanding of economic, social and environmental factors. You can also track changes or policy delivery to improve your planning and services.
Unique and interoperable
Built Up Areas contains three unique datasets, each linked using the GSS code and name, offering maximum flexibility to meet your needs.
Informative
Built Up Areas allow policy makers and analysts, both nationally and locally, to conduct analysis corresponding to actual urban extents such as those of towns, cities and villages. They allow economic, social and environmental issues to be understood on the basis of the actual settlements that most people in Great Britain live in and in doing so aide in the design and implementation of policy areas such as levelling-up and net-zero.
Accessible
A new product available from the OS Data Hub means it's available to anyone interested in Built Up Areas, maximising accessibility and delivering huge value. The data will be maintained and updated every two years and you can link your data using the GSS codes which are recognised and widely used across Government.
Use cases
OS Open Built Up Areas enables policy makers and analysts, both nationally and locally, to conduct analysis corresponding to actual urban extents, for example, at a town, city, and village level.
The product can also be used to:
- monitor changes related to built-up areas over time
- support demographic population density statistics
- provide insights into non-built-up areas that can be used to inform and calculate statistics, such as the impact of natural capital on house prices.