Conurbation
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| The West Midlands Built-Up Area as at the 2011 Census, with overlay of the 2007 Travel to Work Areas. Cities are highlighted in orange, and towns with local authority districts named after them highlighted in green. Source. |
The term ‘conurbation’ refers to: 'A region comprising a number of cities, large towns and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area.' Ref The HS2 London-West Midlands Environmental Statement, published by the Department for Transport in November 2013.
Spatial development glossary, European Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning (CEMAT), Territory and landscape, No. 2, published by Council of Europe Publishing in 2007, states: ‘A conurbation is an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities which have physically merged through population growth and expansion. It is a polycentric form of agglomeration. Physical proximity and continuity of built-up areas are a prerequisite for the definition of a conurbation, which does not exclude that interstitial open spaces may also exist. Conurbations generally developed during the industrial revolution when settlements were built up in areas with significant raw materials (especially mines) or along coastal strips (between the shore line and the mountains in the hinterland).’
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