[[File:Nottingham built-up area map.jpg|thumb|Nottingham built-up area subdivisions, 2011
|250x250px]]
The Nottingham Built-up Area (BUA), Nottingham Urban Area, or Greater Nottingham is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics as built-up land
with a minimum area of 20 hectares (200,000 m<sup>2</sup>), while settlements within 200 metres of each other with a direct road route are linked. It consists of the city of Nottingham and the adjoining urban areas of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England. It had a total population of 719,400 at the time of the 2021 census. This was an decrease of almost 1.5% since the 2011 census recorded population of 729,977, although there were population increases on several new sub-divisions, there were also a number of reductions in areas.
Geography
Greater Nottingham is largely within the three districts of Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling surrounding the city, though the area spills into the Nottinghamshire district of Ashfield, and also to the Amber Valley and Erewash districts of Derbyshire. The Nottingham Urban Area is, by the ONS' 2011 figures, the 8th largest in England (9th in the UK), with a population size between that of the Tyneside and Sheffield built-up areas; in 2021 it had a total area of .
Sub-divisions do not always match administrative geographic boundaries; the areas can be smaller than an administrative area; the subdivision of Clifton (22,395 residents) for example in 2021, although within the Nottingham Unitary Authority city area but was left out of the overall conurbation. The Nottingham subdivision oversteps the city's borders at several locations.
In the 1991 census, Ilkeston was considered outside of the Nottingham Urban Area, and its addition gave the BUA an 8% increase in 2001. This was due to improvements in mapping methodology by the ONS, and is chiefly responsible for the increase in sub-divisions over censuses rather than any large scale 'bricks and mortar' building, as much of the area between the cities is protected green belt and wedges, restricting actual development.
The conurbation methodology was changed for the 2021 census to only amalgamate built up areas linked by a direct road connection, this resulted in a number of the 2011 areas being dropped. This notably included Clifton which is within the administrative area of the city, however a number of new divisions primarily formed along civil parish boundaries were created. Overall, these new areas were not enough to offset the loss with net effect of a reduction in population since 2011.
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |Urban subdivision
! colspan="5" |Population
! rowspan="2" |District
! rowspan="2" |County
|-
!1981
!1991
!2001
!2011
!2021
|-
|Nottingham
|273,300
|270,222
|249,584
|289,301
|299,790
|City of Nottingham
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Carlton
|46,053
|47,302
|48,493
|49,235
|53,555
|Gedling
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Beeston
|64,785
|66,626
|66,683
|51,479
|52,355
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Ilkeston
|—
|—
|37,270
|38,640
|38,725
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Arnold
|37,721
|37,646
|37,402
|37,768
|40,010
|Gedling
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Long Eaton
|42,285
|44,826
|46,490
|37,760
|37,820
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|West Bridgford
|27,463
|33,843
|43,395
|45,509
|36,490
|Rushcliffe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Hucknall
|27,463
|29,160
|29,188
|32,107
|35,840
|Ashfield
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Heanor
|21,863
|22,180
|22,620
|25,644
|24,260
|Amber Valley
|Derbyshire
|-
|Ripley
|17,548
|18,310
|18,523
|19,315
|20,180
|Amber Valley
|Derbyshire
|-
|Eastwood
|18,085
|19,363
|18,612
|18,422
|18,890
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Stapleford
|—
|—
|—
|16,190
|15,045
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Nuthall and Watnall
|—
|—
|—
|—
|9,585
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Sandiacre
|—
|—
|—
|9,600
|9,370
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Wilford
|—
|—
|—
|—
|4,850
|City of Nottingham
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Edwalton
|—
|—
|—
|—
|4,760
|Rushcliffe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Kimberley
|9,818
|10,488
|11,027
|11,353
|4,470
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Awsworth
|—
|—
|—
|2,517
|2,445
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Smalley
|—
|—
|—
|—
|2,200
|Amber Valley
|Derbyshire
|-
|Gamston
|—
|—
|—
|—
|2,175
|Rushcliffe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Trowell
|—
|—
|1,013
|953
|2,165
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Bestwood Village
|—
|—
|—
|—
|2,150
|Gedling/Ashfield
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Swingate
|—
|—
|—
|—
|910
|Broxtowe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Denby Common
|—
|—
|—
|495
|455
|Amber Valley
|Derbyshire
|-
|Linby
|—
|—
|—
|—
|350
|Gedling
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Papplewick
|—
|—
|—
|—
|335
|Gedling
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Risley
|—
|—
|—
|—
|220
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Clifton
|—
|—
|22,312
|22,407
|—
|City of Nottingham
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|Breaston
|—
|7,284
|7,305
|7,545
|—
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Ruddington
|6,504
|6,476
|6,264
|7,020
|—
|Rushcliffe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
|West Hallam
|—
|—
|—
|6,016
|—
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Stanton-By-Dale
|—
|—
|—
|505
|—
|Erewash
|Derbyshire
|-
|Ruddington Grange
|—
|—
|177
|196
|—
|Rushcliffe
|Nottinghamshire
|-
| align="right" | Total
|593,768
|613,726
|666,358
|729,977
|719,400
| colspan="2" |
|-
| align="right" | Change
| -
|+3.36%
|+8.58%
|+9.55%
|-1.45%
| colspan="2" |
|}
Greater Nottingham Partnership/D2N2
The local authorities collaborate in some ways. The Greater Nottingham Partnership considered Greater Nottingham to consist of the City of Nottingham plus the entirety of the Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling boroughs, along with Hucknall from Ashfield, but no part of Derbyshire, as no Derbyshire council was a member of the Partnership. They together worked as an advisory and lobbying body for projects and decisions involving the region. However it was axed due to funding in 2011 and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership is instead assuming those functions with cross-county political and local business support.
Nottingham-Derby 2011 metropolitan area
[[File:Nottingham-Derby-Mansfield-Alfreton-Belper-Heage-Crich-BUA-2011.jpg|250x250px|thumb|Built-up area boundaries in 2011 showing Nottingham and Derby, with near convergence of surrounding major BUAs:
]]
The conurbation forms a large part of the Nottingham-Derby metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 1.5 million.
The urban areas of both Derby and Nottingham are almost continuous with Draycott (part of the Breaston Urban sub-division) being almost continuous with the Borrowash part of the Derby Urban Area.
The Mansfield Urban Area also forms part of this metropolitan area, although it is not continuous with the Nottingham Urban Area. However, it is almost continuous with the Alfreton/South Normanton Built-up area, which had a population of 41,289 according to the last census,