What is a City?

[cliffie47]

Can someone tell me what constitutes a City and how many Cities there are in the UK?

[simms]

I believe it is a title conferred by the government. It doesn't really mean anything in practical terms but councillors will fight to the death to achieve it for their town. It used to be said that one of the indiators f city status is that a conurbation has a cathedral - but Blackburn in lancashire proves this to be inaccurate as it is a town - not a city - and has a cathedral.

[l_h_kings]

1) I am definately not wrong in saying that Blackburn IS a City

2) I might be wrong in saying this though; I always understood that it is having a cathedral that makes a city a city

[sharpy36]

i believe the cathedral answer is correct,although Brigton was
awarded city status last year.Maidstone also applied but were
unsucssfull.

[EssJay1]

Chelmsford, Essex has a cathedral but is a town, even though the football team is Chelmsford City. Don't cities have royal charters? Colchester, Essex is not after city status as it will then lose its oldest town in England label.

[ali_alic]

The Depart for Constitutional Affairs states re the Criteria

"Criteria
City status is not, and never has been, a right which can be claimed by a town fulfilling certain conditions. The use of specific criteria could lead to a town claiming city status as of right, which in turn might devalue the honour. All applications are considered on their individual merits."

And Blackburn is definately not on the DCA's list of cities.  Also I live in Chelmsford and have always know the local footy team at Chelmsford Town Football Club - but I hasten I am not a follower, so could be wrong.

Alison

[QmunkE]

Having a cathedral makes a place, at least in the view of most of the public, a city, i.e. St Davids in Wales, not a large place, but the prescence of a cathedral makes it a city. However, as ali_alic says, the presence of a cathedral is not necessary for a place to be granted city status.

[littleoldme]

Guildford has always puzzled me. Not just generally, but in terms of its status. I always thought it was a city - it has a cathedral, it used to have a football team called Guildford City FC - but when the Queen said a few years ago "Awright then. I'm gonna make a new city. Who's up for it?" or something similar, I'm sure it one of the candidates that eventually lost out to Sunderland.

Or am I thinking of Brighton? I can feel one of my heads coming on :O(

[lodekka]

The DCA website  that ali_alic refers to http://www.dca.gov.uk/constitution/city/citygj.htm#part6 shows Sunderland as gaining city status in 1992 to celebrate forty years since the Queen's accession to the throne, while Brighton became a city in 2000, alongside Wolverhampton and Inverness.

 

Colchester applied for city status in 2002 along with Blackburn, though both were unsuccessful. There's more information at this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_status_in_the_United_Kingdom

[littleoldme]

Ah ha! So Guildford is a cathedral TOWN which just thinks it's a city - many thanks for that website, Lodekka.

[Octavius]

City status is granted by personal command of The Queen, on advice from Ministers. The most recent towns to be granted city status were

Brighton & Hove, Inverness and Wolverhampton to mark the Millennium.

In March 2002 a competition was held by the queen for towns to gain city status and the following towns won and became cities:

Preston
Newport
Stirling
Lisburn and
Newry

City status is purely honorific; its grant confers no additional powers or functions on the successful towns.  City status is not, and never has been, a right which can be claimed by a town fulfilling certain conditions.  The guidelines issued for the competition in 2002 I guess would identify what in these days constitutes a city.  Following the Golden Jubillee city status competition, there are now 66 cities in the UK - 50 in England, 5 in Wales, 6 in Scotland and 5 in Northern Ireland.

http://www.dca.gov.uk/constitution/city/cityind.htm

[DiscoStu]

It is indeed the case that City status is given to a town. Whether or not it has a Cathedral is irrelevant.

I live in Elgin, which has one of the most historically important cathedrals in the whole country. Elgin used to be a city, but it's status was revoked, I believe, in the 70s. The place signs now say 'Royal Burgh of Elgin' as opposed to Elgin City. In fact, the road signs give directions to the Town Centre.

Our football team's still called Elgin City though!

[elena21]

A city is a place which has a catherdral. So Canterbury is one...which is neat myself!