Urban areas cover 9% of England

The amount of land in England covered by urban settlements has nearly doubled over the past 70 years, confirms regulator

Natural England has published a review of landscape change in England from 1940 to 2010.

The report reveals that the area covered by urban settlements has increased from 5% to 9% of land area, through the growth of existing urban areas and the creation of new towns.

The planning system has managed to largely contain urban development, however, with the use of green belts and brownfield policy producing a “more sharply defined edge to urban areas than existed before,” says the report.

It also highlights the impact of industrial activity on the landscape, finding that quarry faces, spoil tips and subsidence pits, for example, have significantly changed landforms.

A more recent change to the landscape, particularly in the uplands, is the emergence of onshore wind farms.