City limits

City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limit is a legal name that refers to the boundary of municipal corporations. In some countries, the limit of a municipality may be expanded through annexation. In the UK, city boundaries are more difficult to define, since British cities are defined as any town or local authority area, regardless of area or population size, that has been granted letters patent as a royal prerogative. In smaller cities, such as Wells (pop. approx. 10,000) or Gloucester (pop. approx. 100,000), the boundary will be that governed by the city council, though in certain cases such as Carlisle, this may include large rural and even uninhabited areas which are largely distinct from the main settlement. In the case of larger cities, such as Birmingham (pop. approx. 1,000,000), local government will be administered by a metropolitan borough but the wider metro area may also have a county or regional combined authority. London, the largest city, is the original model for this in the UK: almost all of the metropolitan area (known as Greater London) is governed by the Greater London Authority. However, as a regional administration its powers are limited, and the 32 boroughs plus the ancient City of London contained within it are responsible for the majority of services to citizens. Although British city (or borough) boundaries are often important for defining local services such as refuse collection and planning (zoning), in most places they form a low level local government. Law enforcement, education and other services are generally defined by county boundaries (or larger areas), and central government is responsible for the National Health Service (NHS Scotland or NHS Wales outside of England). Planning (zoning) law around British cities is generally determined by green belt laws, which prevent building on the countryside surrounding large and medium-sized towns and cities.