I think this may even be on topic. Found at
newscientist.comarticle.jspOpen ↗
Concrete jungle
Question
How much of the surface area of the UK is taken up by roads?
Answers
The area of the hard surface of roads is difficult to estimate precisely because they are so
narrow in comparison with the rest of the area in which they sit, and have a very small level
of resolution on a map. I don't have figures for the UK, but a study by Anne Worrell and
myself using point intercept on high-resolution photographs taken from the air gave the
following estimates for Greater London: roads 8.5 per cent, footpaths and pavements 3.7 per
cent and car parks 5.1 per cent. Each of these figures has a standard error of less than 1 per
cent. Interestingly, the amount of land devoted to road travel in London is greater than any
other single category of land use, except for suburban gardens, which take up 19.3 per cent.
The figures for the UK as a whole must be very much lower, given that London is largely
suburban and so has an extensive road network.
Dave Dawson , UK
The short answer is that the concrete jungle of roads covers less than 1 per cent of the UK's
surface area. The small size of this amount is particularly apparent when our green and
pleasant land is seen from the air.
The internet community called SABRE (Society for All British Road Enthusiasts) has been hard
at work to arrive at this figure. Our best estimate, derived from various and sometimes
conflicting government data, is that there are 425,121 kilometres of public roads, comprising
3589 km of motorways, 56,696 km of A-roads (of which 7921 km are dual carriageway), 32,850 km
of B-roads, 89,686 km of C-roads and 242,300 km of unclassified roads.
Allowing average paved widths of 26 metres for motorways, 18 metres for dual carriageways, 12
metres for other trunk roads, 8 metres for B-roads, 4 metres for C-roads and 3 metres for
unclassified roads, gives a total area of almost 2200 square kilometres of road. The total
area of the UK is usually given as 241,590 square kilometres, so about 0.9 per cent of the
land area is road. A rather higher figure, about 1.3 per cent, is sometimes proposed if the
total width of land occupied by roads, including verges and hedgerows, is included. This is a
less appropriate measure because road verges contribute significantly to wildlife habitat and
biodiversity, and cannot seriously be called roads.
More detailed statistics can be found in the discussion on the SABRE message boards under the
thread "road surface area" at groups.msn.comTheSABRERoadsWebsiteOpen ↗
Biff Vernon , Louth, Lincolnshire, UK
According to Road Traffic Statistics for Great Britain: 2002, published by the Department for
Transport, "The total land area covered by all roads in Great Britain in 2001 was 3300 square
kilometres." This represents about 1.4 per cent of the total land area. The report is
available from
dft.gov.ukdft transstaOpen ↗
ts_023319.hcsp.
Tim Lovell , Bristol, UK
The Department for Transport figure given in Tim Lovell's answer includes verges and hedges,
which is why this figure is similar to the higher figure given by Biff Vernon
Editor , UK