OS Open Built Up Areas Technical Specification

This technical specification provides detailed technical information about OS Open Built Up Areas. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.

OS Open Built Up Areas is a dataset representing the built-up areas of Great Britain. It was designed primarily to underpin the statistical analysis that contributes to policy enablement across the public sector.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Scottish Government made significant contributions in the design of the dataset to ensure it is fit for purpose and focussed on the needs of the wider public sector.

OS Open Built Up Areas is released and maintained as an OS OpenData product with Open Government Licensing (OGL), enabling you to use it for a wide range of purposes.

Representative map showing OS Open Built Up Areas around London

This technical specification includes the following sections:

• Methodology

• Identifiers

• Feature types

• Structured data types

• Code list

• Supply formats