// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Cardiff say to the Valleys? "You're a valley-able friend.
Cardiff–South Wales Valleys metropolitan area | |
|---|---|
| |
 Interactive map of Cardiff–South Wales Valleys metropolitan area | |
| Coordinates: 51°31′44″N 3°15′07″W / 51.528795°N 3.251849°W | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | Wales |
| Population | |
| • Metro [1](2001) | 1.097 million |
.jpg)
The ESPON Cardiff–South Wales Valleys metropolitan area was a metropolitan area used by the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) of the European Union. The area included parts of south-east Wales, specifically covering the morphological urban areas of the cities of Cardiff and Newport, and of the towns of Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Bridgend and Ebbw Vale, in the South Wales Valleys.
It covers the preserved counties of Gwent and South Glamorgan. In a 2007 report, ESPON stated it had a population of 1.097 million, making it the largest and only ESPON metropolitan area in Wales, with the next largest being centred on the city of Swansea and its urban area.[1]
The ESPON defined the "Cardiff and South Wales valleys metropolitan area" by 2007, to cover the following three types of subdivision:[1]
- The previous Cardiff (272,000) and Newport (116,000) areas classed under ESPON 1.1.1
- The corresponding morphological urban areas of Cardiff, Newport, Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Caerphilly, Bridgend, and Ebbw Vale.
The metropolitan area includes areas within the then NUTS 3 statistical regions of Central Valleys (Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf), Gwent Valleys (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen), Bridgend–Neath Port Talbot, Monmouthshire–Newport, and Cardiff–Vale of Glamorgan.[1][2]
| Metropolitan area | Morphological Urban Area[1] | MUA Population (2001 ESPON) | Includes parts of NUTS3 subdivisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff–South Wales Valleys | Cardiff | 353,000 | UKL15 (Central Valleys: Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf)
UKL16 (Gwent Valleys: Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Torfaen) UKL17 (Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot) UKL21 (Monmouthshire and Newport) UKL22 (Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan) |
| Newport | 153,302 | ||
| Bridgend | 49,404 | ||
| Merthyr Tydfil | 43,820 | ||
| Caerphilly | 41,402 | ||
| Pontypridd | 32,694 | ||
| Ebbw Vale | 18,558 | ||
| Total population: 1.09 million | Total population of MUAs: | 692,180 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "British urban pattern: population data" (PDF). ESPON project 1.4.3 Study on Urban Functions. European Spatial Planning Observation Network. March 2007. p. 119. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ "NUTS, level 3 (January 2012) Names and Codes in the UK". geoportal.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2026.