Urban district

Infobox subdivision type
name= Urban district


category= Local government district
territory= England and Wales and Ireland
upper_unit= Administrative county
start_date= flagicon|England flagicon|Wales 1894
start_date1=
start_date2= flagicon|Ireland|1783 1899
start_date3=
start_date4=
legislation_begin= Local Government Act 1894
legislation_begin1= Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
legislation_begin2=
legislation_begin3=
legislation_begin4=
legislation_end= Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971
legislation_end1= Local Government Act 1972
legislation_end2= Local Government Act 2001
legislation_end3=
legislation_end4=
end_date= Northern Ireland 1973
end_date1= flagicon|England flagicon|Wales 1974
end_date2= flagicon|Ireland 2002
end_date3=
end_date4=

current_number=
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type=
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exofficio=
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population_range=
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government= Urban district council
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subdivision= Civil parish
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subdivision4= In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council.__TOC__

England and Wales

In England and Wales, urban districts and rural districts were created in 1894 (by the Local Government Act of 1894) as subdivisions of administrative counties. [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=UD Visionofbritain.org.uk] ]

They replaced the earlier system of Urban and Rural sanitary districts (based on poor law unions) the functions of which were taken over by the district councils. The district councils also had wider powers over local matters such as parks, cemeteries and local planning. [ [http://www.hants.gov.uk/record-office/local_govt/district.html www.Hants.gov] ] The defining difference between an urban district and a rural district was that an urban district contained a single parish, while a rural district may contain many. Urban districts were considered to have more problems with public health than rural areas, and so urban district councils had more funding, and powers than their corresponding rural districts. [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=UD Vision of Britain | Administrative Units Typology | Status definition: Urban District ] ]

Urban districts usually covered smaller towns, usually with populations of less than 30,000. Originally there were 1013 urban districts. Under the Local Government Act 1929 206 urban districts were abolished. Many were merged with surrounding rural districts, and so many urban districts often covered some rural areas as well. [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=UD Vision of Britain | Administrative Units Typology | Status definition: Urban District ] ] Larger towns became municipal boroughs (already created, in 1835 under the Municipal Reform Act 1835) which had a slightly higher status, and the right to appoint a mayor.

All urban districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974, (by the Local Government Act 1972) and replaced with a uniform system of larger districts, which usually covered both urban and rural areas. Many parish councils were created for towns previously covered by urban districts.

See List of rural and urban districts in England and List of rural and urban districts in Wales for lists of the remaining urban districts that were abolished in 1974.

Ireland

In Ireland urban districts were created in 1898 by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. In what is now the Republic of Ireland they continued to exist but were renamed simply 'towns' under the Local Government Act 2001. (Rural districts were abolished in most counties in the Republic in 1925 and then in County Dublin in 1920.)

In Northern Ireland urban and rural districts were abolished in 1973, and replaced with a system of unitary districts.

See also: List of rural and urban districts in Northern Ireland

References