![South Hampshire population density map, 2011 census](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/South_Hampshire_population_density_map%2C_2011_census.png)
South Hampshire is a term used mainly to refer to the
conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...
formed by the
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, city of
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and the
non-metropolitan boroughs of
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
,
Fareham
Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...
,
Havant and
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
in southern
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
South East England. The area was estimated to have a population of over 1.5 million in 2013.
It is the most populated part of
South East England, excluding
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The area is sometimes referred to as Solent City particularly in relation to local devolution, but the term is controversial.
History
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
's Labour government commissioned town planner
Colin Buchanan in 1965 to study the region. He found a region of growing economic importance, in desperate need of proper planning to avoid unplanned sprawl, and suggested the construction of a
modernist urban area between Southampton and Portsmouth. However this was resisted by local authorities who occupied the proposed development sites, and Buchanan's plans were never put into effect.
Instead, as a result of high-tech industry and services, the area grew largely without overall planning to become perhaps the most densely populated region of the UK.
In the late 20th century mass manufacturing of ordinary commodities declined leaving several town and city neighbourhoods impoverished and suffering unemployment, however by the early 21st century high income and retirement properties came to dominate some neighbourhoods, particularly close to universities, and many suburbs and exurbs. Centrally planned building programmes included large estates, carefully connected by new road networks, of commercial and residential use by
Hampshire County Council's architects, led by
Colin Stansfield Smith. Otherwise development has tended to be a case-by-case basis for retail parks, business parks and housing.
The ''Solent
Local Enterprise Partnership'' (LEP), a collaboration between local authorities, universities and businesses set up in 2011 by the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
, type = Department
, logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg
, logo_width = 200px
, logo_caption =
, picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG
, seal =
, se ...
. Different departments of the Solent LEP are distributed across the area, with its 'Growth Hub' being based in Southampton. On 12 November 2013 the government announced the second wave of ''City Deals'', with a successful joint bid of Southampton and Portsmouth providing £953 million of investment into the Solent LEP. Various attempts at a South Hampshire or Solent City devolution deal, the latter sometimes including the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, have also been made, but have seen local resistance, stemming from the Southampton-Portsmouth rivalry, as well as from the more rural Isle of Wight.
Whilst the proposal did see some continued support, particularly from councillors, by 2018 talks with the government had stalled.
Geography
The region can be subdivided into two conurbations, one centred around Southampton and one around Portsmouth. Most of the area is in the Hampshire districts of
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
,
Fareham
Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...
,
Havant,
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. All of these districts have high
population densities
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
, with Portsmouth and Southampton being the most densely populated districts in England outside
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
. Other parts of the area are in the
Test Valley,
East Hampshire,
City of Winchester
The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status.
The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...
and
New Forest districts all of which have comparatively lower population densities. Small parts of the area are also in the
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
district of
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
.
Climate
The climate is temperate oceanic,
Cfb in the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
.
Demography
The following Built-up areas fall inside the South Hampshire metropolitan area have a combined population of 1,086,786.
By council boundaries
![South Hampshire Districts Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/South_Hampshire_Districts_Map.svg)
The following populations is those of council boundaries that are considered part of the South Hampshire conurbation.
South Hampshire Built-up Area
In the 2001 census Portsmouth and Southampton were recorded as being parts of separate urban areas however by the time of the 2011 census they had merged to become the sixth largest built-up area in England with a population of 855,569.
The new built-up area also merged with smaller urban areas called
Locks Heath
Locks Heath is a western residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. Locks Heath is immediately surrounded by a collection of villages including Sarisbury to the West, Swanwick, Park Gate and Whiteley to the North, Warsash ...
,
Bursledon,
Whiteley
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.
L ...
and
Hedge End/Botley in the 2001 census.
Notes:
Other built-up areas
There are three other significant urban areas in the area:
[Portsmouth-Southampton: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population](_blank)
Shows what is considered part of this metropolitan area
There are fourteen smaller urban areas also in the region:
[
Notes:
]
Other towns in the area
Slightly further out there are many satellite towns that may not be directly attached to Southampton or Portsmouth, or necessarily in their Travel to work area
A travel to work area or TTWA is a statistical tool used by UK Government agencies and local authorities, especially by the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentres, to indicate an area where the population would generally commute to a ...
s,[ - see map on website] but are nonetheless still heavily reliant on the two cities for employment and services.
Places within the wider Portsmouth-Southampton Metropolitan area include:
See also
*South Hampshire Plan
{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009
The South Hampshire Plan was a co-ordinated housing plan instigated in the 1960s in the southern portion of the English county of Hampshire.
It was drawn up to encourage growth in the area between Southampton a ...
* BBC Radio Solent
*List of metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom
A metropolitan area is generally defined as consisting of an urban area, conurbation or agglomeration, together with the surrounding area to which it is closely economically and socially integrated through commuting.
The European Union's ESPON ...
*List of urban areas in the United Kingdom
This is a list of the most populous urban areas in the United Kingdom based on the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, as defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Definition
The methodology used by ONS in 2011 is set out in ''20 ...
*M27 motorway
The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire (Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct mot ...
References
{{coord , 50, 52, N, 1, 16, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB, display=title
Geography of Hampshire
Metropolitan areas of England
Urban areas of England