Greater Bristol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greater Bristol is the conurbation surrounding the city of Bristol in the South West of England. There is no official "Greater Bristol", but the term has been used by local, regional and national authorities as a synonym for both the Bristol Urban Area and the former County of Avon, which in turn was based on the Bristol travel-to-work area defined in the 1950s. In 2005 Bristol had a population of 380,615, the Urban Area 551,066 and the former County of Avon 1,015,200.

Greater Bristol is divided between the political control of Bristol City Council, and Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire councils. These were all part of the former county of Avon. Although there is no official county or authority named 'Greater Bristol', many people who do not live under the control Bristol City Council still name Bristol as their address. The former county has recently been used by local and regional authorities, for example in transport planning, with the South West Regional Government Office commisioning a Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study in 2005,^[1] and the local authorities presenting a Joint Local Transport Plan to the DfT in 2006.^[2]

The area within the city limits had a population of 380,615 according to the 2001 census, but the ONS give a figure for the Bristol Urban Area of 551,066, making it the ninth largest conurbation in England and Wales. The 1991 census figure was 522,784. According to the ONS the Bristol Urban Area consists of the following areas :