SEPTEMBER 2001
Online
Geo file
The Socio-Demographic Structure of
UK cities
This Geofile considers the socio-
demographic structure of cities in
the UK. Figure 1 is a diagrammatic
representation of a typical city. It is
divided into three main concentric
rings of development, the two inner
rings of which are subdivided into
different areas. The model is based
upon the nine criteria listed below:
• age structure
• population density
• ethnic composition
• family structure, including the
incidence of lone parents
• the level of education, taken as
the numbers of people with post
A level qualifications
• housing type and tenure
• socio-economic occupation
groupings (SEG)* and levels of
unemployment
• levels of crime and numbers of
residents claiming housing and
social benefits
• levels of car-ownership.
Figure 1: Socio-demographic model of a typical UK city
Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2001
*The Census recognises 15 different
categories of ‘jobs with similar
economic status’. These have been
grouped into the following five main
groups:
a: employers, managers and
professional workers
b: intermediate and junior non-
manual workers
c: skilled manual, supervisors etc.
d: personal service and semi-skilled
manual workers
e: unskilled manual workers.
The inner city residential
area
Typically this is made up of
Victorian terraced housing and large
villas, built during the late 1800s and
early 1900s, a time of great urban
development in the British Isles. It
can be divided into:
• ethnic minority areas
• student areas
405
Barbara Melbourne
• owner-occupied areas
• private-rented areas
• gentrified areas
• areas of urban renewal.
The main features of these areas are
summarised for comparison in
Figure 2.
(a) Ethnic minority areas
Within the inner city there is
usually at least one area with a
marked concentration of people of
non-British origin.
(b) Student areas
Most British cities have a university,
and areas of mainly student
accommodation are found nearby.
Often over 80% of the properties in
these areas are student lettings.
(c) Terraced areas
Typical areas of smaller terraced
housing tend to have two types of
dweller: owner-occupiers and private
tenants.
Owner-occupiers may be in older age
groups, having lived in the area for a
long time, or lower-paid workers who
need to live close to their place of
work and to amenities such as shops
etc., or first-time buyers for whom
this type of property is an affordable
first rung on the property ladder.
Private tenants in these areas tend to
be people who cannot afford to buy
their houses because they are
unemployed, lone parents, or single
people with poorly paid jobs, and so
they have to rent either terraced
houses or flats in larger subdivided
Victorian villas.
(d) Areas of urban renewal
The high-rise developments built
during the 1960s and 1970s often
have low numbers of young people
and higher numbers of elderly people,
who are renting.
Later, in the 1980s and 1990s, smaller
developments of lower-rise housing
were built, which are either rented or
privately owned.
(e) Areas of gentrification
Since the 1980s there has been a
tendency for singles or couples who
September 2001 no.405 The Socio-Demographic Structure of UK Cities

are in SEG groups a and b and aged Figure 2: Socio-demographic characteristics of inner city areas
between 25 and 40 to favour certain
Feature Ethnic Student Terraced Renewal Gentrified
inner city areas. Areas Areas Areas
under 16s Large families Below average Below average Varies with type Low numbers
The inner suburbs 16 to 24 Average Above average Average Varies with type Low numbers
(a) Owner-occupiers 25 to 64 Average Average Average Varies with type Above average
These are mainly families with older under 35s
children or retired people. Most of the 65 to 74 Below average Below average Above average Varies with type Below average
dwellings are on low-density estates of
semi-detached or detached houses and 75 and above Below average Below average Above average Varies with type Low numbers
bungalows, usually with gardens. Population density High Very high High High High
%Ethnic origin High High Average Low Low
(b) Council or social housing estates
There are often quite high numbers of Family structure Family units. Many single Families, young Some singles Large number
Few singles people living couples and and families of professional
elderly people, many lone parents and alone some elderly singles and
socially disadvantaged groups living person households young couples.
here.
Education Below average Above average Below average Often below Above average
Average
(c) The outer suburban area
The outer suburban area is mainly Housing tenure Private rented/ Private-rented Owner-occupied Often rented from Owner occupied
an area of private housing estates owner occupied or private-rented Housing Associations
or the local authority
with detached or semi-detached
houses and bungalows with gardens Occupation groups Large numbers Many students. Many in c, d Retired, and More people
and garages. The socio-demographic in d and e Some c, d and e and e. lower-paid from a and b
Many retired from a and b .
characteristics of the people who
live in these areas are very similar to % unemployment Above average Many are in full- Above average Above average Below average
those of the residents of owner- time education
occupied areas of the inner suburbs, Crime and benefits Average crime Average Average crime Average Average crime
and they live mainly in family units. levels and above levels and above levels and below
average benefit average benefit average benefit
claims claims claims
Liverpool – A Case Study
Figure 4 is based on data for the 33
wards in Liverpool. Wards are the 2 and 5. • below-average unemployment
smallest political or administrative • high percentages of shared • above-average percentages of
division, and are used as units for dwellings, i.e. flats or bedsits people with no car.
data representation as information with a shared entrance
from both the census and other • above average percentages with (d) Urban renewal
sources is available at this level. no car and shared amenities. New developments have taken place
in many of Liverpool’s inner city
The inner city residential (c) Terraced housing areas wards. Most of these schemes only
Areas in which terraced housing involve between 5 and 10% of the
area forms over 60% of the total number population of a ward, and so it is
(a) Ethnic minority areas of dwellings can be found to the difficult to identify their socio-
Sixty-one per cent of Liverpool’s north of city and around the city demographic characteristics at ward
ethnic minority groups live in centre (see Figure 4). Their main level.
Abercromby, Arundel, and Granby characteristics are:
wards. It can be seen from Figure 5 (e) Gentrification
that these three wards have many • a varied age structure, with high Evidence of gentrification can be
similarities, but some differences. percentages of under 15s and similarly difficult to find when using
lone parents in wards such as wards as a basis of data provision.
(b) Student areas Dingle and Picton, and high However, it is an important factor in
The main student residential areas percentages of older people in St Liverpool. Toxteth, a place linked
are near to the University, in five Mary’s and County with urban riots only 20 years ago, is
main wards, as can be seen in Figure • above-average numbers of one now known as ‘Liverpool’s Islington’
4. All these wards have: person households are found in and its streets of very fine Georgian
Picton and Smithdown and Victorian housing have become
• high percentages of 16- to 24- • high population densities are fashionable places to live (as they
year-olds common everywhere were when the houses were first
• high percentages of rented • the percentages of people with built).
accommodation, often twice the educational qualifications
city average beyond A level are low Liverpool’s inner suburbs
• high percentages of flats, mainly • high percentages of owner-
converted, and terraced occupancy and private rented (a) Owner-occupiers
properties accommodation A broad band of inner suburbs
• high percentages of one-person • above-average percentages of stretches from Grassendale and
households, over 40% in wards 1, workers in SEG d and e Woolton in the south to Croxteth in
Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2001
 September 2001 no.405 The Socio-Demographic Structure of UK Cities

Figure 3: Socio-demographic characteristics of inner and outer suburbs a concentration of nursing and
residential homes for the elderly.
Characteristic INNER SUBURBS OUTER SUBURBS • the population density is well
Owner-occupied Council-rented below the average
under 16s low low Low • percentages of lone parents are
16 to 24 low low Low
only one third of the city average
• the percentages of people with
from 25 to high average High post A-level qualifications are
retirement age double the city average
65 to 74 varies high High • around 70% of the houses are
over 75 high high High
owner-occupied and detached or
semi-detached
Population density low varies with Low • all the areas have over 60% of the
type of dwelling people in SEG a and b; Woolton
Family structure Families. Elderly Larger families. Families and elderly and Grassendale have 70%
couples and Elderly couples couples/singles. • unemployment percentages are
singles. Few lone and singles. Many Few lone parents. half the city average
parents. lone parents. • three of the wards, Childwall,
Education Twice city average Low. At least twice city Croxteth and Woolton, referred
figures. average. to in the census booklet as ‘high
Housing type & tenure Owner-occupied; Rented terraced Owner-occupied
status wards’, have high
semis, and detached and semis. Mainly large houses and percentages of self-employed
houses and houses. bungalows. workers: Woolton has 20% for
bungalows. males and 7% for females
• the incidence of crime is low, as is
Occupation groups Over 60% in groups Around 30% in a 60 to 70% in a and b.
a and b. Few in d and b. Around 50% About 5% in d and e.
the uptake of social and other
and e. in d and e. benefits
• the percentage of people with cars
% Unemployment Low High Low is high.
Crime and benefits Low crime rate. Average to high Low crime rate.
Low benefit uptake. crime rate. High Low benefit uptake. (b) Council-owned areas
benefit uptake. There are four areas of council-
% Cars High level of car Lower level of car High level of car owned housing, which have many
ownership. ownership ownership; many common socio-demographic
households have characteristics:
more than one car.
• above-average percentages of
under-15s in many areas
the north. These wards have several about 2% below the city average • high percentages of elderly people
characteristics in common: • above-average percentages of • high percentages of lone parents
older people. Aigburth has the • very low percentages of people
• low percentages of under 15s, highest figure, over 25%, owing to with post A-level qualifications

Figure 4: Liverpool – (a) socio-demographic structure; (b) wards

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2001

September 2001 no.405 The Socio-Demographic Structure of UK Cities

Figure 5: Data for the three main wards in the ethnic minority area of Liverpool Conclusion
Characteristic Abercrombie Arundel Granby City Average Cities in the UK have evolved to
0 to 15 18.4% 18.0% 26.1% 21.4% show a recognisable pattern of socio-
demographic structure, a visible
16 to 64 68.2% 62.2% 52.8% 59.6% reflection of social and economic
65 and over 14.4% 19.8% 11.0% 19.0% factors that operate in society. This
is seen in our study of Liverpool. It
Black African, 12.2% 6.5% 17.2% 1.9% is uncertain to what degree the
Caribbean and Other current pattern will continue into
Chinese 5.6% 2.0% 2.7% 0.7% the future. Alternative scenarios are
that our cities will become more
Other Asian 2.7% 2.6% 3.3% 0.7% uniform in character, or conversely
Other 3.2% 2.5% 4.0% 0.8% undergo continued or further spatial
2
differentiation. Much depends on
Population density/km 2400 5862 6712 4798
the evolution of social and economic
Lone parents 7.9% 7.3% 14.3% 7.4% forces.
Owner-occupied (%) 16 38 15 48
Council/private rented(%) 31/ 53 10/28 41/44 32/20
Detached and semis (%) 11 8 10 26
Terraced/flats (%) 23 / 65 51/41 48 / 40 50 / 24
SEG a and b /c /d and e(%) 30 /20 /50 47/22/31 29/21/50 49 /21/30
% unemployed 33.0 23.1 40.9 22.9
Crimes (position in city) / 32nd/57.4 26th/46.1 28th/51.3 49.4
Housing and benefit claims (%)

(0.4% in Vauxhall, compared to Liverpool’s outer suburbs

the city average of 6.1%)
• percentages of workers in SEG a
and b are well below the city
average and those in the d and e
groups are much higher
• above-average percentages of
unemployed
• high crime levels and
percentages of people claiming
benefits
• high percentages of people with
no cars.
Vauxhall and Everton wards, which
have large numbers of blocks of
flats, are very similar in many
respects and quite different from the
other more mixed council-owned
housing areas. They have much
lower percentages of children under
15 years old and higher percentages
of elderly. Population density is
lower, and the percentage of people
with post A-level qualifications is
very low. Over 70% of the housing is
council-rented, compared to
approximately 40% in other areas.
Unemployment rates are also much
higher in Vauxhall and Everton,
with an unemployment rate of over
40% compared to 20 to 30% in the
other areas. The levels of crime and
people claiming benefits are higher,
and that of car ownership is much
lower than the city average.
Between 1991 and 1998 the
population of Liverpool itself fell by
20,000, continuing a general trend
of counter-urbanisation to
Merseyside that has been taking
place over the last 30 years. There
are thus very few, if any, areas that
can be classed as outer suburbs
within the city limit. The socio-
demographic characteristics of these
areas are very similar to those for
the owner-occupied inner suburbs,
with largely privately owned post-
1970s dwellings and most residents
in the middle and upper income
brackets with a high standard of
living.
Focus Questions
1. (a) Why do ethnic minorities tend to concentrate in certain parts of
the city?
(b) Study Figure 2. What are the main socio-demographic characteristics of
these areas?
(c) What other features of the physical urban landscape would you expect to
find in these ethnic minority areas?
2. Obtain census data for your home town or city, or of a city that you
know, and try to draw a map of its socio-demographic structure. Note any
major practical difficulties which you come across.
There are websites for all major towns and cities in the UK. These are at:
www.XYZ.gov.uk.

Geofile Online © Nelson Thornes 2001