United Kingdom Tourism

Milton Keynes is a ‘new’ city situated halfway between Birmingham and London. It is set within a rural area, some of which is administered by Milton Keynes Council.  Milton Keynes is well served by strategic transport links being on the West Coast main railway line and M1 motorway and near to regional airports at Birmingham and Luton. It is within the South East Government Office region, but adjoins the East and East Midlands regions.

The new city was designated in 1967. At this time, the population of 67,000 was concentrated mainly in three towns - Wolverton, Bletchley and Newport Pagnell, with some smaller towns and a number of villages. Since that time the population has grown more or less constantly and now 220,000 people live in the borough. Most live in the new city itself which has become a coherent urban area. The Council also administers the rural area north of the city towards Northampton, which includes the towns of Newport Pagnell, Olney, and many villages. The importance of growth to Milton Keynes is reflected by its designation by Government as a 'growth area' and position within the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-region - arrangements which support the delivery of growth in the area.

Milton Keynes is unusual for the UK in that it is designed around a grid (approximately 1km spacing) of high speed roads. Within each 'gridsquare' are the residential, commercial and other developments. The development pattern is generally of low rise buildings at a low density, but in recent years the density of development has been increasing in line with national planning guidance.

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