Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area in Bedford
Bedford: Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area was 17 Square kilometres in 2030. ▲ Rising
Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area in Bedford, 1975–2030
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
The most recent figure for population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Bedford is 17 Square kilometres, measured in 2030. That is the highest value across all 12 years on record.
The figure is up 6.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Bedford peaked at 17 Square kilometres in 2030 and was at its lowest, 10 Square kilometres, in 1975.
That places Bedford 599th out of 1372 regions with data for 2030, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10 Square kilometres | 10 Square kilometres | 10 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 1980s | 10.5 Square kilometres | 10 Square kilometres | 11 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 1990s | 11.5 Square kilometres | 11 Square kilometres | 12 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2000s | 12.5 Square kilometres | 12 Square kilometres | 13 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2010s | 14.5 Square kilometres | 14 Square kilometres | 15 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 16 Square kilometres | 16 Square kilometres | 16 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2030s | 17 Square kilometres | 17 Square kilometres | 17 Square kilometres | 1 |
More population data for Bedford
- Heat stress - Cities and FUAs — Mean population exposure to heat 9.99 Days per year (2025)
- Population by age and sex - Cities and FUAs 194,976 Persons (2024)
- Population by citizenship - Cities and FUAs 10.9 Percentage of population (2021)
- Foreign-born population - Cities and FUAs 15.5 Percentage of population (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Bedford?
- Population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area in Bedford was 17 Square kilometres in 2030, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area recorded in Bedford?
- The highest recorded value was 17 Square kilometres in 2030.
- What is the lowest population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area recorded in Bedford?
- The lowest recorded value was 10 Square kilometres in 1975.
- How does Bedford rank for population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area?
- Bedford ranks 599th out of 1372 regions with data for 2030.
- Is population and built-up density - cities and fuas — urbanised area rising or falling in Bedford?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bedford data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs — Urbanised area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
<p align="justify">This dataset provides indicators of population density and built-up area in FUAs and cities.</p> <h3>Data sources and methodology</h3> <p align="justify"> FUA and city surfaces are calculated from FUA and city shapefiles, using GIS tools. Built-up data uses GHSL built-up surface grids <a href=https://doi.org/10.2760/098587>(European Commission, GHSL Data Package 2023)</a>. Population counts are extracted from the <a href=https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=Design&df[id]=DSD_FUA_DEMO%40DF_AGE_SEX&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.EDS>Population by age and sex - FUAs and cities</a> dataset. GHSL is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (100 m), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators on built-up areas. </p> <p align="justify"> These estimates may differ from official subnational built-up statistics due to differences in methodologies, such as top down remote-sensing based estimations versus bottom up cadastral or administrative data, along with differences in satellite imagery sources, spatial resolution, and model accuracy used to detect and classify built up areas. </p> <h3>Defining FUAs and cities</h3> <p align="justify">The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-definition-of-cities-and-functional-urban-areas.html">definition of functional urban areas</a> (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns <a href=https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264174108-en>(OECD, 2012)</a>. FUAs consist of: <ol> <li><b>A city</b> – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city.</li> <li><b>A commuting zone</b> – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city.</li> </ol> The delineation process includes: <ul> <li>Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA.</li> <li>Excluding non-contiguous municipalities.</li> </ul> The definition identifies 1 285 FUAs and 1 402 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries.</p> <h3>Cite this dataset</h3> <p>OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (<a href="http://data-explorer.oecd.org/s/1e6">Population and built-up density - Cities and FUAs</a>), <a href=http://oe.cd/geostats>http://oe.cd/geostats</a></p> <h3>Further information</h3> <ul> <li> <a href=https://localdataportal.oecd.org/>OECD Local Data Portal </a> </li> <li> <a href=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-2024_f42db3bf-en.html/>OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance </a> </li> </ul> <p align="justify">For questions and/or comments, please email <a href="mailto:CitiesStat@oecd.org">CitiesStat@oecd.org</a>