`  There is this constant query about the boundaries being based on 1974.  They're not, except in very specific cases: those where the boundaries between settlements were already within the built-up area at the point of the 1981 Census.  As a simple guide - look at the census data itself, and the fact that areas are given for subdivisions, and the fact that these change with each census, as they should.    To give an example - the Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield boundary is fixed along the Birmingham County Borough - Sutton Coldfield Municipal Borough boundary as it stood on 31 March 1974.  This boundary cannot change because the two places butt up against one another directly and have done since before that date - which is the most recent date where local authority boundaries were actually based on urban areas.  However, nothing stops the two settlements growing or shrinking in any other direction where they do not directly butt up against any other settlement/locality/subdivision as can be seen by the following data extract from the 1991 and 2001 censuses.  {| class=``wikitable`` |- !Locality !2001 Area (ha) !1991 Area (ha) |- |Birmingham |22,296 |22,334 |- |Sutton Coldfield |4,343 |4,236 |- |} The data is correct as to the urban areas as at the 2001 census, and is different from those given in either the 1971 or 1981 censuses. If the data was simply stuck in 1974 as claimed, then there would be no change in the areas given.   `