housing
land
Developed land use in the Greater West of England
This data insight describes how developed land is distributed and used across the Greater West of England, measured in hectares (ha).
The Greater West of England is a bespoke geography comprising Bath and North East Somerset (BANES), Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.
Across all indicators, transport and utilities consistently account for the largest share of developed land. When compared with England and England excluding London, the Greater West of England’s profile highlights a relatively low industrial share, but a higher amount of transport-related land uses.
At the local authority level, contrasts become more pronounced, with some areas allocating over 60% of developed land to transport and utilities, while others dedicate a quarter or more to residential or community uses.
All data are sourced from Land Use in England, 2022 (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities), based on Ordnance Survey MasterMap topography data (April 2022 snapshot). Land uses are classified across 28 categories and grouped into developed land types for comparison.
12,113ha
Wiltshire has the most transport and utilities land; over 8 times that of BANES
4,356ha
Gloucestershire has the largest area of ‘unknown developed use’
8.13%
Share of England’s ‘other transport’ land accounted for in Greater West of England
62.49%
Share of Wiltshire’s developed land used for transport and utilities
Greater West of England local authority areas, developed land by type (hectares), 2022
This visualisation shows the distribution of developed land (hectares) across the Greater West of England local authority areas in 2022, broken down into broad land types.
Wiltshire and Gloucestershire have the largest total developed land areas, used particularly for transport and utilities (12,113ha and 10,710ha respectively), and unknown developed use (3,937ha and 4,356ha). Residential land is also highest in both areas (1,814ha and 2,241ha respectively).
Minerals and landfill land use is minimal across most areas, with Swindon reporting just 1ha while there is 166ha in Gloucestershire.
Developed land by type, Greater West of England as a % of England, 2022
This visualisation shows the share of England’s developed land located within the Greater West of England in 2022, broken down by land type. The Greater West of England accounts for 5.73% of England’s total land area and 5.48% of its developed land.
Other transport (8.13%) and utilities (7.66%) make up the highest shares, above the Greater West of England overall land share. In contrast, industry (3.85%), and minerals and landfill (3.01%) are relatively underrepresented.
Developed land by type, Greater West of England, geographical comparisons, 2022
This visualisation shows the percentage breakdown of developed land by type across the Greater West of England, compared with England and England excluding London in 2022.
Transport and utilities dominate developed land everywhere, but Wiltshire has the highest share at 62.49%, above England (50.41%). Bristol has the largest residential share at 21.31%, compared with England (14.44%) and England excl. London (13.73%) and 9.36% in Wiltshire.
Minerals and landfill account for a small proportion across all areas, though Gloucestershire (0.85%) and North Somerset (0.65%) are slightly above the Greater West of England average (0.46%).
Developed land by type, Greater West pf England constituencies, 2022
This visualisation shows the percentage composition of developed land by type across South West parliamentary constituencies.
Transport and utilities dominate most constituencies, with the highest shares in Salisbury (66.01%), South West Wiltshire (62.38%) and North Somerset (59.46%), compared with much lower shares in Bath (32.68%) and Bristol East (34.49%).
Residential land is prominent in areas such as Bristol East (26.08%), Cheltenham (25.95%) and Bristol South (24.81%), while being lower in more rural constituencies like Forest of Dean (9.33%) and South West Wiltshire (9.34%).
Industry and commerce vary across constituencies with the highest shares in North Swindon (9.64%) and Bristol North West (8.52%), compared to Salisbury (2.05%) and Forest of Dean (2.13%).
