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Urban - Rural Classification

Guidance and supporting information on the statistical classification and delineation of urban/rural areas and settlements in Northern Ireland

Useful Links

  • Review of the Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements
  • Settlement 2015 Guidance Document
  • Settlement 2015 Look up Table
  • Further 2011 Census information for Settlements

Settlement Development Limits (2015)

Settlement Development Limits (SDLs) are a statistical classification and delineation of settlements in Northern Ireland defined by the DOE Planning Service in November 2014. SDL boundaries are available for settlements exceeding the thresholds of 20 or more households and 50 or more usual residents.

  • Download the ESRI Shapefile format

Attribute Table

CodeSettlement Coding Convention
NameSettlement name
BandSettlement band
DT_20MINIndicator of whether  a settlement is within a 20 min drive-time of a service provision location
DT_30MINIndicator of whether  a settlement is within a 30 min drive-time of a service provision location
UR_ex2011 census count of usual residents for each settlement polygon
OccHH_ex2011 census count of occupied households for each settlement polygon
UR-ap2011 Census count if usual residents for each approximated settlement polygon (approximated by aggregates of 100m grid squares)
OccHH_ap2011 Census count if occupied households for each approximated settlement polygon (approximated by aggregates of 100m grid squares)

Settlement Development Limits (2005)

Settlement Development Limits (SDLs) are a statistical classification and delineation of settlements in Northern Ireland defined by the Planning Service.  SDL boundaries are available for settlements with a population of greater than 1,000. Further information is available in the Report of the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group.

Attribute Table

LocationName of Settlement
LGDLocal Government District
Band_nameStatistical classification band name as defined by the Planning service
BandStatistical classification label
Pop_2001Settlement population count
Hsce_2001Settlement household count
Geoarea_haArea settlement in hectares
EastingGeographic centroid easting
NorthingGeographic centroid nothing

SDL boundaries in GIS format

  • ESRI Shapefile format (1.75 MB)
  • Mapinfo format (1.23 MB)

Last updated: 09 April 2025

Related to Urban - Rural Classification

Publications

  • Urban- Rural Geography Documents (2005)

    Published 10 September 2018
  • Urban- Rural Geography Documents (2015)

    Published 20 January 2017
  • Settlement 2015 Documentation

    Published 02 May 2016
  • Review of the Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements

    Published 26 March 2015
See all publications in this topic

Links

  • Official Statistics producer – Upholding Trust, Quality and Value
  • General Register Office - registration and certification of life events relating to births, deaths and marriages
  • nidirect.gov.uk – the official government website for Northern Ireland citizens
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