Rural and Urban Dimensions
9.38 Unsurprisingly there are notable geographic variations in both volume and patterns of crime across the South West. At the most basic level, recorded crime and BCS measures both suggest that crime is lower in rural areas (nationally as well as in the South West). 10 Some thirty-three of the forty-five district and unitary authorities in the South West region are classified by the Government as rural (see Defra's rural and urban classification of Local Authorities) (encompassing 61% of the population), leaving twelve classified as urban (encompassing 39% of the population).
9.39 In 2006/07, 53% of all recorded crime committed in the South West occurred in local authority areas which were classified as urban. 16.0% of all recorded crime was committed in Bristol and a further 6.5% in Plymouth, such that these two cities together accounted for nearing a quarter of all recorded crime in the region. Bournemouth and South Gloucestershire accounted for respectively 4.6% and 4.5% of recorded crime in the region during 2006/07 and a further six local authority areas each individually accounted for between 3.2% and 4.3% of the total.
