The West Midlands conurbation is a conurbation in the West Midlands region of England. The area consists of two cities and numerous towns: to the east, the city of Birmingham, along with adjacent towns of Solihull, Shirley, Chelmsley Wood and Sutton Coldfield; and to the west, the city of Wolverhampton and the area called the Black Country, containing the towns of Dudley, Walsall, Brownhills, Bloxwich, Aldridge, West Bromwich, Oldbury, Cradley Heath, Lye, Willenhall, Bilston, Darlaston, Wednesfield, Tipton, Smethwick, Wednesbury, Rowley Regis, Netherton, Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, Sedgley, Stourbridge and Halesowen.

It is broken down into multiple Travel to Work Areas: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley & Sandwell, Walsall & Cannock, Hagley is within the Kidderminster area and the extreme south-east corner is within the Warwick & Stratford upon Avon area. The conurbation is mainly in the West Midlands county, including parts of the surrounding counties of Staffordshire (e.g. Little Aston, Perton and Essington) and Worcestershire (such as Hagley and Hollywood), with Coventry a separate area in the county.

According to the 2011 Census the area had a population of 2,440,986, making it the third most populated in the United Kingdom behind Greater London and Greater Manchester.

With the West Midlands also being a region and county, the conurbation is sometimes known as Birmingham-Wolverhampton. though it is the term Birmingham & The Black Country that has gained the widest traction as an alternative to the conurbation's official name: an example of this is the tagline used by BBC Radio WM - "The sound of Birmingham & The Black Country".

Constituent parts

Although the exact boundaries of any conurbation are open to debate, dependent on what criteria are used to determine where an urban area ceases, the Office for National Statistics defines the West Midlands Built Up Area as including the urban areas of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Solihull, West Bromwich, Dudley, and Walsall amongst others. These settlements are not coterminous with the Metropolitan Boroughs of the same name.

Coventry is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by the Meriden Gap, and other urban areas, such as Cannock and Codsall remain separate from the conurbation. Coventry is 19 miles east of Birmingham.

Administration Occasionally the conurbation is seen as being coterminous with the West Midlands Metropolitan county; however, this includes Coventry, which is separate from the main urban area, and excludes the parts of the surrounding counties of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire that fall within the conurbation.

For administrative purposes, the vast majority of the conurbation falls within the six Metropolitan Boroughs of Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Two Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) cover the majority of the conurbation area: Black Country LEP comprises the local authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton while the Greater Birmingham & Solihull LEP includes those two authorities and a number of satellite boroughs, many remote from the conurbation and not traditionally associated with it (Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Redditch, Tamworth and Wyre Forest).

Settlements

2011 Census The West Midlands Built Up Area consists of the below subdivisions. Due to the change in methodology between the 2001 and 2011 Census, and the amount of change between 2011 Census and previous census data, it is impossible to compare the data directly between 2011 and earlier Censuses. RankSettlementPopulation (2011)Notes on significant changes since 20011Birmingham1,085,810Gained Quinton from Oldbury-Smethwick USD. Gained Minworth from Sutton Coldfield USD.2Wolverhampton210,319Bilston and Wednesfield removed from 2001. The three BUASDs combined total 265,178. Essington removed and placed within Willenhall BUASD. 3Solihull123,187Gained Shelly Green and Knowle-Bentley Heath from 2001.4Sutton Coldfield95,1075Dudley79,379Coseley, Kingswinford, Brierley Hill and Sedgley removed from 2011. The five BUASDs combined total 215,693. Gained Cradley Heath and Quarry Bank from Oldbury-Smethwick USD.6West Bromwich72,945Wednesbury and Tipton removed from 2001. Town split in two by Sandwell Valley and the two parts are now considered separately. The four BUASDs combined total 153,366. Gained Yew Tree from 2001.7Walsall67,594Willenhall, Darlaston and Bloxwich removed from 2001. The four BUASDs combined total 185,114.8Stourbridge63,298Gained Hagley from 2001.9Halesowen58,13510Willenhall51,429New in 2011. Previously part of Walsall USD, but also gained Essington from Wolverhampton USD.11Kingswinford50,801New in 2011. Previously part of Dudley USD.12Smethwick48,765New in 2011. Previously part of Oldbury-Smethwick USD.13Bloxwich47,288New in 2011. Previously part of Walsall USD.13Tipton42,407New in 2011. Previously part of West Bromwich USD.14Aldridge39,463Gained Rushall, Shelfield and Pelsall from 2001.15Rowley Regis34,260New in 2011. Previously part of Oldbury-Smethwick USD.16Brierley Hill31,430New in 2011. Previously part of Dudley USD.17Sedgley30,979New in 2011. Previously part of Dudley USD.18Bilston29,556New in 2011. Previously part of Wolverhampton USD.19Wednesfield25,303New in 2011. Previously part of Wolverhampton USD20Oldbury23,964New in 2011. Previously part of Oldbury-Smethwick USD.21Coseley23,104New in 2011. Previously part of Dudley USD.22Brownhills20,37323Wednesbury19,029New in 2011. Previously part of West Bromwich USD.24West Bromwich East18,985New in 2011. Previously part of West Bromwich USD.25Darlaston18,803New in 2011. Previously part of Walsall USD.26Blackheath6,518New in 2011. Previously part of Oldbury-Smethwick USD.27Cheswick Green2,19728Wythall1,912New in 2011.29Hampton in Arden1,678New in 2011.30Stonnall1,338New in 2011.31Major's Green1,002New in 2011.32Tidbury Green720New in 2011.

In the 2011 Census, Coleshill and Water Orton are two separate built-up areas with populations of 6,341 and 3,444 respectively. Prior to 2011, they were considered part of the West Midlands Urban Area.

Prior censuses Prior to the 2011 census, the conurbation was known by the ONS as the West Midlands Urban Area, which contained the following Urban Sub-Divisions: Rank (2001)SettlementPopulation (2001)Population (1991)Population (1981)1Birmingham970,892965,9281,024,1182Wolverhampton251,462257,943265,6313Dudley194,919192,171187,3674Walsall170,994174,739178,8525Oldbury / Smethwick139,855145,542153,4616West Bromwich136,940146,386154,5317Sutton Coldfield105,452106,001103,0978Solihull94,75394,53194,6139Stourbridge55,48055,62455,49910Halesowen55,27357,91857,53211Brownhills19,86618,15918,20012Knowle / Bentley Heath18,45213Aldridge15,65916,83217,58914Pelsall10,52410,00710,32815Shelfield6,8077,0796,02916Coleshill6,2356,32417Yew Tree6,10918Rushall5,8645,8716,13719Hagley5,7235,4175,75420Shelly Green5,70221Water Orton3,5733,55522Cheswick Green2,2612,51123Knowle17,58816,87224Bentley Heath5,984

Notes:

See also List of areas in Birmingham List of areas in Dudley List of areas in Sandwell List of areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall List of areas in Wolverhampton

References

External links