In
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
, and the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
, 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
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
.
England and Wales
In
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...
, urban districts and
rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the ...
s were created in 1894 (by the
Local Government Act 1894) as subdivisions of
administrative counties.
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. An urban district usually contained a single
parish, while a rural district might 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 greater powers than comparable rural districts.
[Vision of Britain , Administrative Units Typology , Status definition: Urban District](_blank)
/ref>
Urban districts normally covered smaller towns, usually with populations of less than 30,000. Originally there had been 1,009 urban districts but implementation of the recommendations of a series of county reviews as established by the Local Government Act 1929 saw a net decrease of 159 in the number of urban districts between 1932 and 1938. In many instances smaller urban districts were merged with their surrounding rural districts, with the result that new districts emerged covering rural as well as urban parishes. At the same time, a number of larger urban districts became municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in ...
s (as already created, in 1835 under the Municipal Reform Act 1835): these had a slightly higher status and the right to appoint a mayor.
Urban districts in the outer London area were absorbed into London Boroughs
The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...
in 1965 as a consequence of the London Government Act 1963
The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...
. All remaining urban districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, and replaced with a uniform system of larger districts – see ''Districts of England
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the s ...
'' and ''Districts of Wales
In 1974, Wales was re-divided for local government purposes into thirty-seven districts. Districts were the second tier of local government introduced by the Local Government Act 1972, being subdivisions of the eight counties introduced at the sa ...
'' – which often covered both urban and rural areas. Many parish councils in England were created for towns previously covered by urban districts and, as a result of subsequent legislation, all urban and rural areas in Wales are today covered by 870 communities as sub-entities of 22 unitary authorities (or principal areas).
Ireland
In Ireland urban districts were created in 1898 by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 based on the urban sanitary districts created by the Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878, and the suburban townships adjacent to Dublin city. Urban districts had powers greater than towns with town commissioners but less than the municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in ...
s preserved by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840
The Municipal Corporations Act (Ireland) 1840 (3 & 4 Vict. c. 108), ''An Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in Ireland'', was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 10 August 1840. It was one of the Municipal Corporati ...
or created subsequently. A few places were promoted or demoted between these three categories in subsequent decades.
After the partition of Ireland in 1920–22 urban districts continued in both the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
) and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
.
Northern Ireland
The rural and urban districts in Northern Ireland were abolished in 1973, and replaced with a system of unitary districts.
Republic of Ireland
In the Republic, while rural districts were abolished in 1925 and 1930, urban districts continued to exist.
In 1930 the Borough of Dún Laoghaire was created as part of the reforms enacted in County Dublin by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930. The new borough was formed by amalgamating the four urban districts of Blackrock, Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire, and Killiney and Ballybrack.
The urban district of Galway was elevated to the status of borough in the 1930s.
A small number of other urban districts underwent a change of status over time:
* Pembroke and Rathmines and Rathgar, previously within the county of Dublin, were both abolished and incorporated into the city of Dublin in 1930
* Howth, also previously within the county of Dublin, was similarly abolished and incorporated into the city of Dublin in 1942
* Passage West ceased to exist in 1942
* Granard ceased to exist in 1944
* Belturbet ceased to exist in 1950
The above changes left a total of 49 urban districts in being, which continued unchanged into the 1990s. Numerous changes to boundaries with adjoining local authorities were also made over the years.
Urban districts were renamed as "towns" under the Local Government Act 2001
The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in the Republic of Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and a ...
. These were in turn abolished in 2014 under the Local Government Reform Act 2014
The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, a ...
.
See also
*Small burgh
Small burghs were units of local government in Scotland created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 in 1930. The Act reclassified existing burghs into two classes, large and small burghs. While large burghs became largely independent of th ...
(approximate equivalent in Scotland)
References
{{Terms for types of country subdivisions
Local government in the Republic of Ireland
Defunct types of subdivision in the United Kingdom