Scotland: National Rural Network
Connecting Rural Scotland - Promoting Rural Growth

An updated Urban Rural Classification document has been published today by the Scottish Government. There are changes to the classification of some settlements including Tranent, Gretna and Kincardine.

The Scottish Government 2009-2010 Urban Rural Classification document includes the latest available settlement population figures and drive time estimates. Due to changes in population and drive times to settlements, there have been some changes to the classification of some settlements. There has been no change to the definitions of urban and rural areas underlying the classification.

Key points include:

• The classification is consistent with the Government's core definition of rurality which defines settlements of 3,000 people or less to be rural. It also classifies areas as remote based on a drive time of 30 minutes or more from settlements of at least 10,000 people
• Changes to settlement sizes and drive times to settlements has resulted in some changes in classification to some settlements
• The population of Kincardine (Fife) has dropped below the 3,000 population threshold and as such has been reclassified from a small town to a rural area
• The population of Gretna (Dumfries and Galloway) has risen above the 3,000 threshold and has changed from a rural area to a small town
• Tranent in East Lothian has also experienced an increase in population which has now crossed the 10,000 population threshold. Tranent has now changed from being classified as a small town to an urban area
• A boundary change has meant that Culloden is now included as part of the settlement of Inverness. This means that the locality of Culloden is now classed as urban, as opposed to a small town as before