Talk:Leeds/draft

Leeds is the major settlement within the City of Leeds, a large metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the eastern foothills of the Pennines astride the River Aire in the northeastern part of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. Leeds was historically a market town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and formed a township and administrative centre of the Borough of Leeds. The township became a civil parish in 1866 and the Borough of Leeds formed an independent county borough from 1889, gaining city status in 1893. Its geographic location, availability of resources and good transport links led to its development as a major trading and industrial centre; and its more recent economic history is underpinned by a shift from textiles and engineering to retail and finance.

In the 20th century the urban area of Leeds expanded, absorbing neighbouring towns and villages. Since a reform of local government in 1974 it has been part of the county of West Yorkshire; and forms the largest commercial, retail and leisure centre in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. Borough and city status are now held by the City of Leeds metropolitan district, which includes an extensive suburban and rural hinterland and the free-standing towns of Garforth, Wetherby, Rothwell, Morley and Otley as well as numerous small villages. The regeneration of Leeds has reshaped it from a decaying and derelict post-industrial location to a significant regional economic centre, with a transformed built environment.

Toponomy
The name Leeds derives from "Loidis", the name given to a forest covering most of the kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century. Bede states in the fourteenth chapter of his Historia ecclesiastica, in a discussion of an altar surviving from a church erected by Edwin of Northumbria, that it is located in "...regione quae vocatur Loidis", the region known as Loidis. An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, a word of uncertain origin.

Economic development
Leeds developed as a market town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy. Prior to the Industrial Revolution it evolved into a co-ordination centre for the making of woollen cloth; with white broadcloth traded at the Leeds White Cloth Hall. Growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816. The railway network constructed around Leeds from 1848 provided a direct north-south connection to London and, significantly for its development, an east-west connection with Manchester, Liverpool and Hull. Despite technological advances and industrial expansion, agrarian life was not abandoned and Leeds retained a dual-economy of manufacturing and agriculture, with the Corn Exchange opening in 1864.

The first factories were constructed in 1790 and by 1914 the economy had become more diverse, with a range of industries established. The most significant of these were woollen finishing and the flax mills; giving way later to printing, engineering and chemicals. Decline in manufacturing during the 1930s was temporarily reversed by a switch to munitions during World War II. However, by the 1970s the clothing industry was in irreversible decline, facing cheaper foreign competition. The contemporary economy of Leeds has been shaped by the vision of Leeds City Council of it as a '24 hour European city' and a 'capital of the north'. It has developed from the decay of the post-industrial era to become a telephone banking centre, connected to the electronic infrastructure of the modern global economy. There has been growth of the corporate and legal sectors and increased local affluence has led to an expanding retail sector, including the luxury goods market.

Local government
Leeds formed a manor and township in the large ancient parish of Leeds St Peter, in the Skyrack wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Borough of Leeds was created in 1207, when Maurice Paynel, lord of the manor, granted a charter to a small area within the manor and near the river, in what is now the city centre. The inhabitants of Leeds petitioned Charles I for a charter of incorporation and in 1626 it was granted. It incorporated the entire parish, including all eleven townships, as the Borough of Leeds and withdrew the earlier charter. Improvement commissioners were set up in 1755 for paving, lighting, and cleansing of the main streets, including Briggate; with further powers added in 1790 to improve the water supply.

The borough corporation was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, with Leeds Borough Police formed in 1836 and Leeds Town Hall completed by the corporation in 1858. In 1866 Leeds, and each of the other townships in the borough, became a civil parish. The borough became a county borough in 1889, giving it independence from the newly formed West Riding County Council and it gained city status in 1893. In 1904 the Leeds parish absorbed Beeston, Chapel Allerton, Farnley, Headingley cum Burley and Potternewton from within the borough. The county borough made a series of significant territorial expansions, growing from 21593 acres in 1911 to 40612 acres in 1961. In 1912 the parish of Leeds and the county borough absorbed Roundhay and Seacroft, which had formed Leeds Rural District; and Shadwell, which had formed part of Wetherby Rural District. On 1 April 1925 the parish of Leeds was expanded to cover the whole borough.

The county borough was abolished on 1 April 1974 and its former area was combined with that of the municipal boroughs of Morley and Pudsey; the urban districts of Aireborough, Horsforth, Otley, Garforth and Rothwell; and parts of the rural districts of Tadcaster, Wetherby and Wharfedale. This area was used to form a new metropolitan district in the county of West Yorkshire; it gained both borough and city status and is known as the City of Leeds. Initially, local government services were provided by Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire County Council. However, the county council was abolished in 1986 and the city council absorbed its functions, with some powers passing to organisations such as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. From 1988 two run-down and derelict areas close to the city centre were designated for regeneration and formed the area of responsibility of Leeds Development Corporation, outside the planning remit of the city council. Planning powers were restored to the local authority in 1995 when the development corporation was wound up.

Suburban growth
In 1801 42% of the population of Leeds was found outside the township, in the wider borough. Early residential growth occurred in Holbeck and Hunslet from 1801 to 1851, but as these townships industrialised new areas were found for middle class housing. Land to the south was henceforth developed primarily for industry and secondarily for back-to-back workers' dwellings. Holbeck and Leeds formed a continuous built-up area in 1858, with Hunslet near to uniting with them. Because of pollution, the mercantile class left the small industrial conurbation for the northerly villages of Headingly, Potternewton and Chapel Allerton; this led to a 50% increase in the population of Headingly and Burley from 1851 to 1861. The middle class flight from the industrial areas also led to development beyond the borough at Roundhay and Adel. The Leeds Improvement Act 1866 sought to improve the quality of working class housing and restricted the number of homes that could be built in a single terrace. In the latter half of the 19th century, growth in Hunslet, Armley and Wortley outstripped that of Leeds itself. The introduction of the electric tramway led to intensification of development in Headingly and Potternewton and expansion outside the borough into Roundhay.

Cholera outbreaks in 1832 and 1849 caused the borough authorities to address the problems of drainage, sanitation and water supply. Water was originally pumped from the River Wharfe, but by 1860 it was too heavily polluted to be usable. Following the Leeds Waterworks Act 1867 three reservoirs were built at Lindley Wood, Swinsty and Fewston, to the north of Leeds. Two private gas supply companies were taken over in 1870 and the new municipal supply was used to provide street lighting and cheaper gas to homes. From the early 1880s the Yorkshire House-to-House Electricity Company supplied electricity to Leeds and it was also purchased by Leeds Corporation and became a municipal supply.

Governance
The Leeds Central Parliament constituency consists of the wards of Beeston and Holbeck, Burmantofts and Richmond Hill, City and Hunslet, Hyde Park and Woodhouse, and Middleton Park. In 2001 it had a population of 92,353. Each ward elects three councillors to Leeds City Council. The councillors elected in 2008 were: Beeston and Holbeck – 3 Labour; Burmantofts and Richmond Hill – 3 Liberal Democrats; City and Hunslet – 3 Labour; Hyde Park and Woodhouse – 2 Liberal Democrats and 1 independent; and Middleton Park – 3 Labour. There is no county council in West Yorkshire and central Leeds has no civil parishes, so the city council is the primary provider of local government services. The MP of Leeds Central is Hilary Benn of the Labour Party. The constituency is surrounded by Leeds East, Leeds North East, Leeds North West and Leeds West.

Leeds forms part of the Yorkshire and the Humber European Parliament constituency, which is represented by two Conservative, one Labour, one UKIP, one Liberal Democrat and one BNP MEPs. The voting figures for Leeds in the European Parliament election in June 2009 were: Conservative 22.6%, Labour 21.4%, UKIP 15.9%, Lib Dem 13.8%, BNP 10.0%, Green 9.4%. Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Civic Hall, the administrative buildings of the local authority, are located in the city centre. In common with the rest of Yorkshire and the Humber, regional economic development is undertaken by Yorkshire Forward and their work is scrutinised by Local Government Yorkshire and Humber; a local authority leaders' board made up of councillors from throughout the region. Leeds is policed by the West Yorkshire Police with fire and rescue services provided by the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. Health services are provided by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Primary Care Trust and Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust which provides mental health services.

Geography
At 53.79972°N, -1.54917°W (53.799°, -1.549°), and 190 mi north-northwest of central London, Leeds is located on the River Aire in a narrow section of the Aire Valley; Leeds is at the eastern foothills of the Pennines, about 206 ft above sea level. It forms part of a continuously built-up area extending to Pudsey, Bramley, Horsforth, Alwoodley, Seacoft, Middleton and Morley. Leeds and its environs are found upon a layer of coal measure sandstones. The land use in Leeds is overwhelmingly urban. Attempts to define the exact geographic scope of Leeds have led to a variety of concepts of its extent, varying by context; they include the area of the city centre, the urban sprawl, the administrative boundaries, and the functional region.

Leeds is much more a generalised concept place name in inverted commas, it is the city, but it is also the commuter villages and the region as well.

Leeds city centre is contained within the Leeds Inner Ring Road, formed from parts of the A58 road, A61 road, A64 road, A643 road and the M621 motorway. Briggate, the principal north-south shopping street, is pedestrianised and Queen Victoria Street, a part of the Victoria Quarter, is enclosed under a glass roof. Millennium Square forms a significant urban focal point. The Leeds postcode area covers most of the City of Leeds and is almost entirely made up of the Leeds post town. Otley, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey and Ilkley are separate post towns within the postcode area. Weather data for Leeds is summarised as follows:

Demography
At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Leeds urban subdivision occupied an area of 109 km2 and had a population of 443,247; making it the fourth most populous urban subdivision within England and the fifth largest within the United Kingdom. The population density was 4,066 /km2, slightly higher than the rest of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. It accounts for 20 per cent of the area and 62 per cent of the population of the City of Leeds. The population of the urban subdivision had a 100 to 93.1 female–male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 39.4 per cent were single (never married) and 35.4 per cent married for the first time. The urban subdivision's 188,890 households included 35 per cent one-person, 27.9 per cent married couples living together, 8.8 per cent were co-habiting couples, and 5.7 per cent single parents with their children. Of those aged 16–74, 32.6 per cent had no academic qualifications, higher than average of England (28.9 per cent). Leeds is the largest component of the West Yorkshire Urban Area and is counted by Eurostat as part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone. The Leeds travel to work area in 2001 included all of the City of Leeds, a northern strip of the City of Bradford, the eastern part of Kirklees, and a section of southern North Yorkshire; it occupies 751 km2.

Economy
The extensive retail area of Leeds is identified as the principal regional shopping centre for the whole of the Yorkshire and the Humber region and approximately 3.2 million people live within its catchment area. There are a number of indoor shopping centres, including the Merrion Centre, Leeds Shopping Plaza, St John’s Centre, Headrow Centre, the Victoria Quarter, The Light and the Corn Exchange. In total there are approximately 1,000 retail stores, with a combined floorspace of 2264100 sqft. Office developments, also traditionally located in the inner area, have expanded south of the River Aire and total 11000000 sqft of space. In the period from 1999 to 2008 £2.5bn of property development was undertaken in central Leeds; of which £711m has been offices, £265m retail, £389m leisure and £794m housing. Manufacturing and distribution uses accounts for £26m of new property development in the period. There are 130,100 jobs in the city centre, accounting for 31% of all jobs in the wider district. In 2007, 47,500 jobs were in finance and business, 42,300 in public services, and 19,500 in retail and distribution. 43% of finance sector jobs in the district are contained in Leeds city centre and 44% of those employed in the city centre live more than nine kilometres away.

Landmarks
The built environment of Leeds points to its prosperity during the Victorian era and its recent economic development. A number of large structures remain from the era of industrial growth, including the Corn Exchange and Leeds Town Hall. Leeds Civic Hall was designed by E. Vincent Harris in 1926 and built between 1931 and 1933 to provide the unemployed with work during the Great Depression. The tallest buildings in Leeds since 2007 is Bridgewater Place at 110 m. The West Riding House office building had been the tallest building from its completion in 1973 until the opening of Bridgewater Place. The Elland Road football stadium in the Beeston area is synonymous with Leeds United Association Football Club, and Headingley Stadium with county cricket.

Transport
Leeds railway station is located on a branch of the East Coast Main Line, with services to London Kings Cross provided by National Express East Coast. It is also a regional hub on the Northern Rail suburban and commuter network, including services of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. A secondary service to St Pancras in London is provided by East Midlands Trains and First TransPennine Express provide east-west rail services to Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

The primary mode of public transportation within Leeds is the bus services. The main provider is First Leeds, with Arriva Yorkshire providing routes to the south. The bus network is well developed with several guided busways operating on radial routes and there is an extensive network of bus lanes and bus priority systems. A zero-fare bus service, the FreeCityBus, connects Leeds bus station and Leeds railway station to the universities and Leeds General Infirmary. A plan to reintroduce trams to Leeds was abandoned due to lack of available funding and it is now proposed that a Leeds Trolleybus system could be provided. Leeds shares Leeds Bradford International Airport with nearby Bradford, with the airport located to the north, between the two, and within the Yeadon area of the City of Leeds.

Education
Leeds is the location of the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University. The local education authority is Leeds City Council; with education services provided under contract by Education Leeds, a not-for-profit company owned by the local authority. There several higher education colleges, including the Leeds College of Art, Leeds College of Music, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and Leeds City College.

Religious sites
Leeds does not have a Church of England cathedral, because it is in the Anglican Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, although Leeds Parish Church is large and architecturally significant. Leeds Cathedral, consecrated as Saint Anne's Cathedral, is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Diocese of Leeds, and is the seat of the Bishop of Leeds. The church of St John the Evangelist, New Briggate, founded by John Harrison is the oldest church in central Leeds. It was consecrated in 1634. No longer used for regular worship, the building is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and it is open to visitors and is also used for occasional public events.

Sports
Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Leeds Rhinos rugby league football club, and Leeds Carnegie rugby union club play at adjacent cricket and rugby grounds in Headingley Stadium. Leeds United A.F.C. are the main football team in Leeds. Leeds United is the only leagure football team and formed in 1919 in Salem Chapel, just south of the Leeds Bridge. Hunslet Hawks are a rugby league team, based in Hunslet; they play in the National League Two and are based in the John Charles Centre for Sport. Leeds Carnegie L.F.C. are a women's football team based in Leeds. Leeds City Athletics Club competes in the British Athletics League and UK Women's League and the Northern Athletics League.

Culture
BBC Television and ITV both have regional studios and broadcasting centres in Leeds; with ITV Yorkshire broadcasting from The Leeds Studios on Kirkstall Road. Local film production companies include the not-for-profit cooperative Leeds Animation Workshop. Radio stations broadcasting from Leeds include BBC Radio Leeds, Radio Aire, Magic 828, Galaxy Yorkshire, Real Radio and Yorkshire Radio. Leeds is the location of the offices of Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd, who produce the Yorkshire Post, the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds Express, the Leeds Weekly News and a variety of regional titles.

Leeds Art Gallery houses collections of traditional and contemporary British art. Other art venues include Gallery 42, Leeds Met Gallery, PS:L and theartmarket. The Grand Theatre is where Opera North is based. Museums in Leeds include the Leeds City Museum and the Royal Armouries. The Leeds Festival takes place every year in Bramham Park, having previously been in Temple Newsam. Other regular outdoor events include the Leeds Carnival, Leeds Festival and the Mela. The Leeds International Film Festival, the largest outside London, takes place every year.