Geography

How large is the city of Oxford?

The city has a total area of about 46 sq km (17.6 sq miles).

What are the characteristics of the Oxford area?

While parts of the urban area are very densely developed, 52% of the city is actually open space.  This can be seen by looking at the following document:

 Map of Oxford (525kB PDF)

Some 27% of Oxford is in the Green Belt, with much of this land being flood plain. The historic city parks and nature conservation areas (including a Special Area of Conservation and several sites of special scientific interest) create pockets and corridors of green within the City boundary.

You can explore the boundary of Oxford and the areas within it (see below) by using this interactive map.

What areas are there within Oxford?

There are many different geographic communities of varying sizes within Oxford.  For administrative purposes, delivering services and producing statistics there are a number of different types of areas referred to.  Some of these are listed below.

• There are six Areas, each with its own Area Forum
• There are 24 electoral wards which are represented by two councillors each
• There are 22 policing neighbourhoods used for local policing
• There are 85 Lower Super Output Areas and 414 Output Areas used for producing statistics

More information on UK geographies can be found in the ONS Beginner's Guide to UK Geography.

Where can I find more information?

You may be interested to find out about Oxford City Council's planning policy.

Page last reviewed 14 January 2012