Leeds

The name derives from the old Brittonic *Lātēnses (via Late Brittonic Lādēses), composed of the Celtic root *lāt- "violent, boiling" and the borrowed Latin plural derivational suffix -ēnses meaning "people of the fast-flowing river", in reference to the River Aire that flows through the city.[11][12] This name originally referred to the forested area covering most of the Brythonic kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century.[13]

Bede states in the fourteenth chapter of his Ecclesiastical History, in a discussion of an altar surviving from a church erected by Edwin of Northumbria, that it is located in ...regione quae vocatur Loidis (Latin, "the region which is called Loidis"). An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, a word of uncertain origin.[14] The term Leodensian is also used, from the city's Latin name.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Granary Wharf

The Leeds Corn Exchange opened in 1864.

Leeds developed as a market town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy.

Before the Industrial Revolution, it became a co-ordination centre for the manufacture of woollen cloth, and white broadcloth was traded at its White Cloth Hall.[15]

Leeds handled one sixth of England's export trade in 1770.[16] Growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the creation of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 (with major additional works in the 18th century) and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816.[17] In the late Georgian era, William Lupton was one of a number of central Leeds landowners, some of whom, like him, were also textile manufacturers. At the time of his death in 1828, Lupton occupied the enclosed fields of the manor of Leeds, his estate including a mill, reservoir, substantial house and outbuildings.[18][19]

Mechanical engineering, initially to supply tools and machinery for the textile sector, rapidly became a diverse industry.[20]

The railway network constructed around Leeds, starting with the Leeds and Selby Railway in 1834, provided improved communications with national markets and, significantly for its development, an east–west connection with Manchester and the ports of Liverpool and Hull giving improved access to international markets.[21] Alongside technological advances and industrial expansion, Leeds retained an interest in trading in agricultural commodities, with the Corn Exchange opening in 1864.[22]

Leeds from the Meadows by Joseph Rhodes, 1825

Marshall's Mill was one of the first of many factories constructed in Leeds from around 1790 when the most significant were woollen finishing and flax mills.[23] Manufacturing diversified by 1914 to printing, engineering, chemicals and clothing manufacture.[24] Decline in manufacturing during the 1930s was temporarily reversed by a switch to producing military uniforms and munitions during the Second World War. However, by the 1970s, the clothing industry was in irreversible decline, facing cheap foreign competition.[25] The contemporary economy has been shaped by Leeds City Council's vision of building a '24-hour European city' and 'capital of the north'.[26] The city 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.[26] There has been growth in the corporate and legal sectors,[27] and increased local affluence has led to an expanding retail sector, including the luxury goods market.[28]

Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone was launched in April 2012 to promote development in four sites along the A63 East Leeds Link Road.[29]

Leeds was a manor and township in the large ancient parish of Leeds St Peter, in the Skyrack wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire.[31] The Borough of Leeds was created in 1207, when Maurice Paynel, lord of the manor, granted a charter to a small area of the manor, close to the river crossing, in what is now the city centre. King James I granted the borough to his wife, Anne of Denmark, and in 1612, she ordered a survey of the borough; in 1615 she was petitioned to remove the strict Calvinist preacher Alexander Cooke as vicar of Leeds, but she refused.[32]

The inhabitants petitioned Charles I for a charter of incorporation, which was granted in 1626. The new charter 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 and further powers were added in 1790 to improve the water supply.[33]

A crowd gathers outside Leeds Town Hall during the 1880 general elections.

The borough corporation was reformed under the provisions of Municipal Corporations Act 1835. Leeds Borough Police force was formed in 1836, and Leeds Town Hall was completed by the corporation in 1858. In 1866, Leeds and each of the other townships in the borough became civil parishes. 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.[34] In 1904 the Leeds parish absorbed Beeston, Chapel Allerton, Farnley, Headingley cum Burley and Potternewton from within the borough. In the twentieth century the county borough initiated a series of significant territorial expansions, growing from 21,593 acres (87.38 km²) in 1911 to 40,612 acres (164.35 km²) in 1961.[35] In 1912 the parish and county borough of Leeds absorbed Leeds Rural District, consisting of the parishes of Roundhay and Seacroft; and Shadwell, which had been part of Wetherby Rural District. On 1 April 1925, the parish of Leeds was expanded to cover the whole borough.[31]

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.[36] This area formed a 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. When the county council was abolished in 1986, the city council absorbed its functions, and some powers passed 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 became the responsibility of Leeds Development Corporation, outside the planning remit of the city council.[37] Planning powers were restored to the local authority in 1995 when the development corporation was wound up.

1866 map of Leeds

19th-century Briggate, Leeds

In 1801, 42% of the population of Leeds lived outside the township, in the wider borough. Cholera outbreaks in 1832 and 1849 caused the authorities to address the problems of drainage, sanitation, and water supply. Water was pumped from the River Wharfe, but by 1860 it was too heavily polluted to be usable. Following the Leeds Waterworks Act of 1867 three reservoirs were built at Lindley Wood, Swinsty, and Fewston in the Washburn Valley north of Leeds.[38]

Residential growth occurred in Holbeck and Hunslet from 1801 to 1851, but, as these townships became industrialised new areas were favoured for middle class housing.[39] Land south of the river was developed primarily for industry and secondarily for back-to-back workers' dwellings. The Leeds Improvement Act 1866 sought to improve the quality of working class housing by restricting the number of homes that could be built in a single terrace.[40]

Holbeck and Leeds formed a continuous built-up area by 1858, with Hunslet nearly meeting them.[41] In the latter half of the nineteenth century, population growth in Hunslet, Armley, and Wortley outstripped that of Leeds. When pollution became a problem, the wealthier residents left the industrial conurbation to live in Headingley, Potternewton and Chapel Allerton which led to a 50% increase in the population of Headingley and Burley from 1851 to 1861. The middle-class flight from the industrial areas led to development beyond the borough at Roundhay and Adel.[41] The introduction of the electric tramway led to intensification of development in Headingley and Potternewton and expansion outside the borough into Roundhay.[42]

Two private gas supply companies were taken over by the corporation in 1870, and the municipal supply provided street lighting and cheaper gas to homes. From the early 1880s, the Yorkshire House-to-House Electricity Company supplied electricity to Leeds until it was purchased by Leeds Corporation and became a municipal supply.[43]

Slum clearance and rebuilding began in Leeds during the interwar period when over 18,000 houses were built by the council on 24 estates in Cross Gates, Middleton, Gipton, Belle Isle and Halton Moor. The slums of Quarry Hill were replaced by the innovative Quarry Hill flats, which were demolished in 1975. Another 36,000 houses were built by private sector builders, creating suburbs in Gledhow, Moortown, Alwoodley, Roundhay, Colton, Whitkirk, Oakwood, Weetwood, and Adel. After 1949 a further 30,000 sub-standard houses were demolished by the council and replaced by 151 medium-rise and high-rise blocks of council flats in estates at Seacroft, Armley Heights, Tinshill, and Brackenwood.[44]

Leeds has seen great expenditure on regenerating the city, attracting in investments and flagship projects,[45] as found in Leeds city centre. Many developments boasting luxurious penthouse apartments have been built close to the city centre.

The city centre lies in a narrow section of the Aire Valley at about 206 feet (63 m) above sea level. The land use in the central areas of Leeds is overwhelmingly urban.[54] while being less than twenty miles (32 km) from the rural Yorkshire Dales National Park.[55][56]

It 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 is a significant urban focal point.

Inner and southern areas of Leeds lie on a layer of coal measure sandstones forming the Yorkshire Coalfield. To the north parts are built on older sandstone and gritstones and to the east it extends into the magnesian limestone belt.[23][57][58]

Outside Leeds centre, there are a number of suburbs and exurbs within the district. Some of Leeds suburbs include Headingley, Harehills and Hunslet. while exurbs of Leeds include Pudsey, Horsforth and Morley.[54]

Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, there is a significant variation in elevation within the city's built-up area. The district ranges from 1,115 feet (340 m) in the far west on the slopes of Ilkley Moor to about 33 feet (10 m) where the rivers Aire and Wharfe cross the eastern boundary. Land rises to 198 m (650 ft) in Cookridge, just 6 miles (9.7 km) from the city centre.

It has the second-highest population of any local authority district in the UK (after Birmingham), and the second-greatest area of any English metropolitan district (after Doncaster), extending 15 miles (24 km) from east to west, and 13 miles (21 km) from north to south. The northern boundary follows the River Wharfe for several miles (several kilometres), but it crosses the river to include the part of Otley which lies north of the river.

The Leeds postcode area covers most of the City of Leeds district[59] and is almost entirely made up of the Leeds post town.[60] Otley, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey and Ilkley are separate post towns within the postcode area.[60]

River Aire in Leeds

In addition to the rivers Aire and Wharfe, other watercourses (generally known as becks) include:

• Adel Beck, which flows southwards from Adel Dam and through Adel Woods to join Meanwood Beck just south of the Leeds Outer Ring Road.
• Bramhope Beck, Bramhope
• Brandon Drain Stream, Shadwell[61]
• Cock Beck
• Collingham Beck, which enters the Wharfe near Collingham
• Colton Beck, near Colton, which may have been diverted during the medieval period to power a mill or support a moat [62]
• River Crow, which flows in the vicinity of Aberford and joins the Wharfe near Tadcaster[63]
• Dolphin Beck, Thorpe
• Eccup Beck
• Gledhow Beck, flowing through Gledhow Valley Woods into Gledhow Lake
• Grace Beck, in Wike
• Great Heads Beck, flowing into Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park
• Guiseley Beck [64]
• Haigh Beck, Rothwell
• Hol Beck
• Keswick Beck, a tributary of Collingham Beck
• Marsh Beck, which flows into Golden Acre Park
• Meanwood Beck (different portions are also referred to as Adel Beck, Carr Beck, Lady Beck, Mabgate Beck, Sheepscar Beck and Timble Beck)[65]
• Mill Beck
• Mill Shaw Beck, which flows near Elland Road [66]
• Mire Beck, near Menston and Guiseley Moor [67]
• Moseley Beck
• Oil Mill Beck, near Horsforth [68]
• Pudsey Beck
• Shadwell Beck
• Shaw Beck
• Stank Beck, flowing through the grounds of Harewood House northwards to the River Wharfe near Harewood Bridge
• Throstle Carr Beck, Middleton
• Topcliffe Beck, Morley
• Wigton Knowle Beck, in Alwoodley, flowing northwards into Eccup Reservoir
• Wortley Beck, flowing through woodlands maintained by Leeds City Council [69]
• Wyke Beck

Sunny early-June 2006 day at Park Square

Leeds has a climate that is oceanic (Köppen: Cfb), and influenced by the Pennines. Summers are usually mild, with moderate rainfall, while winters are chilly, cloudy with occasional snow and frost. The nearest official weather recording station is at Bingley, some twelve miles (20 km) away at a higher altitude.[70]

July is the warmest month, with a mean temperature of 16 °C (61 °F), while the coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of 3 °C (37 °F). Temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) and below −10 °C (14 °F) are not very common but can happen occasionally. Temperatures at Leeds Bradford Airport fell to −12.6 °C (9.3 °F) in December 2010[71] and reached 31.8 °C (89 °F) at Leeds city centre in August 2003.[72] The record temperature for Leeds is 34.4 °C (94 °F) during the early August 1990 heatwave. It is likely this was exceeded during the heatwaves of July 2019 and July 2022 where many other areas broke their all time records. However Leeds weather centre closed in the 2000s.

As is typical for many sprawling cities in areas of varying topography, temperatures can change depending on location. Average July and August daytime highs exceed 22 °C (72 °F) (a value comparable to South East England) in a small area just to the south east of the city centre,[73][74] where the elevation declines to under 20 metres (66 feet). This is 2 °C (3.6 °F) milder than the typical summer temperature at Leeds Bradford airport weather station (shown in the chart below), at an elevation of 208 metres (682 feet).

Situated on the eastern side of the Pennines, Leeds is among the driest cities in the United Kingdom, with an annual rainfall of 660 mm (25.98 in).

Though extreme weather in Leeds is relatively rare, thunderstorms, blizzards, gale-force winds and even tornadoes have struck the city. The last reported tornado occurred on 14 September 2006, causing trees to uproot and signal failures at Leeds City railway station.[75]

Leeds is within a green belt region that extends into the wider surrounding counties and is in place to reduce urban sprawl, prevent the settlements in the West Yorkshire conurbation from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage brownfield reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.[79]

Over 60% of the Leeds district is green belt land and it surrounds the settlement, preventing further sprawl towards nearby communities. Larger outlying towns and villages are exempt from the green belt area. However, smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas are 'washed over' by the designation. The green belt was first adopted in 1960,[79] and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some 33,970 hectares (339.7 km²; 131.2 sq mi).[80]

A subsidiary aim of the green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests,[79] with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including Temple Newsam Park and House with golf course, Rothwell Country Park, Middleton Park, Kirkstall Abbey ruins and surrounding park, Bedquilts recreation grounds, Waterloo lake, Roundhay castle and park, and Morwick, Cobble and Elmete Halls.

Leeds compared

Leeds urban subdivision shown within the West Yorkshire urban area Leeds urban subdivision within the West Yorkshire urban area
2021 UK Census	Leeds USD	Leeds district	West Yorks UA	England
Population	515,947	811,953	2,351,582	56,489,840
White	71.2%	79.0%	76.6%	81.0%
Asian	13.1%	9.7%	15.9%	9.6%
Black	8.3%	5.6%	3.1%	4.2%
Source: Office for National Statistics[89][90][91][92][93]

At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Leeds urban subdivision occupied an area of 109 square kilometres (42 sq mi) 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 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,530/sq mi), slightly higher than the rest of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. It accounts for 20% of the area and 62% of the population of the City of Leeds. The population of the urban subdivision had a 100 to 93.1 female–male ratio.[94] Of those over 16 years old, 39.4% were single (never married) and 35.4% married for the first time.[95] The urban subdivision's 188,890 households included 35% one-person, 27.9% married couples living together, 8.8% were co-habiting couples, and 5.7% single parents with their children. Leeds is the largest component of the West Yorkshire Urban Area[54] 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 square kilometres (290 sq mi).

In 2011, the Leeds USD had a population of 474,632 and had an area of 112 square kilometres (43 sq mi) with a population density of 4,238 inhabitants per square kilometre (10,980/sq mi).[97] It is bounded by, and physically attached to, the other towns of Garforth to the east, Morley to the southwest and Pudsey to the west, all being within the wider borough. 63% of the borough's population of 751,485 live in the USD, while it takes up only 21% of its total area of 552 km².

At the time of the 2011 UK Census, the district had a total population of 751,500, representing a 5% growth since the previous census ten years earlier.[88] According to the 2001 UK Census, there were 301,614 households in Leeds; 33.3% were married couples living together, 31.6% were single-person households, 9.0% were co-habiting couples and 9.8% were single parents, following a similar trend to the rest of England.[98] The population density was 1,967/km² (5,090/sq mi)[98] and for every 100 females, there were 93.5 males.

Leeds is a diverse city with over 75 ethnic groups, and with ethnic minorities representing just under 11.6% of the total population.[88] According to figures from the 2011 UK Census, 85.0% of the population was White (81.1% White British, 0.9% White Irish, 0.1% Gypsy or Irish Traveller, 2.9% Other White), 2.7% of mixed race (1.2% White and Black Caribbean, 0.3% White and Black African, 0.7% White and Asian, 0.5% Other Mixed), 7.7% Asian (2.1% Indian, 3.0% Pakistani, 0.6% Bangladeshi, 0.8% Chinese, 1.2% Other Asian), 3.5% Black (2.0% African, 0.9% Caribbean, 0.6% Other Black), 0.5% Arab and 0.6% of other ethnic heritage. Leeds has seen many new different countries of birth as of the UK Census including Zimbabwe, Iran, India and Nigeria all included in the top ten countries of birth in the city. Large Pakistani communities can be seen in wards such as Gipton and Harehills. Chapel Allerton is known for having a large Caribbean community.[99]

The majority of people in Leeds identify themselves as Christian.[100] The proportion of Muslims (3.0% of the population) is average for the country.[100] Leeds has the third-largest community of Jews in the United Kingdom, after those of London and Manchester. The areas of Alwoodley and Moortown contain sizeable Jewish communities.[101] 16.8% of Leeds residents in the 2001 census declared themselves as having "No Religion", which is broadly in line with the figure for the whole of the UK (also 8.1% "religion not stated"). The crime rate in Leeds is well above the national average, like many other English major cities.[102][103] In July 2006, the think tank Reform calculated rates of crime for different offences and has related this to populations of major urban areas (defined as towns over 100,000 population). Leeds was 11th in this rating (excluding London boroughs, 23rd including London boroughs).[104] Total recorded crime in Leeds fell by 45% between 2002–03 and 2011–12.[88]

Leeds is the largest centre outside London for financial and business services. Over the next ten years, the economy is forecast to grow by 25% with financial and business services set to generate over half of GVA growth over that period with Finance and business services accounting for 38% of total output.

The finance and business service sector account for 38% of total output[111][118][109] with more than 30 national and international banks located in the city, including an office of the Bank of England.[113] Leeds is also the UK's third-largest manufacturing centre with around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees; Leeds manufacturing firms account for 8.8% of total employment in the city and is worth over £7 billion to the local economy.[118] The largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology.[116]

Leeds has over 30 national and international banks, many of whose northern or regional offices are based in the city. It is the headquarters for First Direct and Yorkshire Bank, and has large Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Santander operations.[115]

The city is also an important centre for equity, venture, infrastructure and risk finance. The venture capital provider, YFM Equity Partners, founded in Leeds, is now the UK's largest provider of risk capital to small and medium-sized enterprises.[115] The UK Infrastructure Bank, founded in 2021 to support economic growth in regional and local sectors across the United Kingdom, is also based in Leeds.[119]

There are around 150 law firms operating in Leeds, employing over 6,700 people. According to The UK Legal 500, "Leeds has a sophisticated and highly competitive legal market, second only to London."[120]

Specialist legal expertise to be found in Leeds includes corporate finance, corporate restructuring and insolvency, global project financing, trade and investment, commercial litigation, competition, construction, Private Finance Initiatives and Public Private Partnerships, tax, derivatives, IT, employment, pensions, intellectual property, sport and entertainment.[120]

The establishment of an Administrative Court in Leeds in April 2009 reinforced Leeds's position as one of the UK's key legal centres. The court previously sat only in London.[120]

Leeds skyline in 2013

Tourism is important to the Leeds economy, in 2009 Leeds was the eighth-most visited city in England by UK visitors.[121] and the 13th-most visited city by overseas visitors.[122] Research by VisitEngland reported that the day visitor market to Leeds attracts 24.9 million people each year, worth over £654 million to the local economy.[123] In the 2017 Condé Nast Traveler survey of readers, Leeds rated 6th among The 15 Best Cities in the UK for visitors.[124]

In 2016, Leeds received 27.29 million leisure tourist visits generating over £1.6bn for the city, according to data from a STEAM survey. That was a 15.9% increase in revenue over 2015. A 9.7% increase in visits had been recorded since 2013.[125] The industry supported over 19,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2016.[126]

NHS England HQ

In Leeds, 108,000 people work in the public sector—24% of the workforce. The largest employers are Leeds City Council, with 33,000 staff, and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with 14,000 staff.[127]

Leeds has become a hub of public-sector health bodies. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, the Care Quality Commission, NHS Digital, and Public Health England all have large offices in Leeds. Europe's largest teaching hospital is also based in Leeds, and is home to the Yorkshire Cancer Centre, the largest of its kind in Europe.[128]

Key government departments and organisations in Leeds include the Department for Work and Pensions, with over 3,000 staff, the DHSC, with over 800 staff, HM Revenue and Customs with over 1,200 staff and the British Library with 1,100 staff.[127]

King Edward Street

The city centre has a large pedestrian zone. Briggate is the main shopping street where one can find many well-known British High Street stores, including Marks & Spencer, Costa Coffee, and Harvey Nichols. Many companies have several stores within Central Leeds and the wider city.

Leeds is home to one of the largest indoor markets in Europe,[129] Leeds Kirkgate Market. The district also has various regular local markets in Otley, Pudsey, and Yeadon.[130] Between 1987 – 1995 Leeds, Kirkgate market was renovated. The changes have maximised the retail provision in the market without compromising the historical features of the building, so much so that the renovated Kirkgate Market Hall structure was promoted from Grade II to Grade I listing status, and was subsequently nominated for a Civic Trust Award.

There is an annual German Christmas Market ("Christkindelmarkt") based in Millennium Square, usually running from early November to mid-late December.[131] The 2020 Christmas Market was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.[132]

The extensive retail area of Leeds is the principal regional shopping centre for the whole of the Yorkshire and the Humber region, offering a spend of £1.93 billion annually in 2013.[133] There are a number of indoor shopping centres in the centre of the city, including the Merrion Centre, St John's Centre, The Core, the Victoria Quarter, The Light, the Corn Exchange, Trinity Leeds, and Victoria Gate.[134] In total, there are well over 1,000 retail stores, with a combined floorspace of 3,660,000 square feet (340,000 m²)[108] in Leeds City Centre.

Victoria Quarter, opened in 1900

The Victoria Quarter is notable for its high-end luxury retailers and impressive architecture. 70 stores such as Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Diesel, and anchor Harvey Nichols are contained within two iron-wrought Victorian arcades, and a new arcade formed by arcading Queen Victoria Street with the largest expanse of stained glass in Britain.[135][136]

In the Churwell area of Leeds is the White Rose Shopping Centre. Opening in 1997, the centre has over 100 high street stores anchored by Marks & Spencer, Primark, NEXT, and Sainsbury's. Some stores have their only Leeds presence here and do not trade in Central Leeds, such as the Disney Store and Build-A-Bear workshop.

Trinity Leeds is Leeds's largest shopping centre.

On 21 March 2013, a large shopping and leisure complex called Trinity Leeds opened in the city centre. The modern and interactive retail space covers the old Burton Arcades and the former Leeds Shopping Plaza with its main entrance from Briggate.[137]

Victoria Gate is Leeds's newest shopping centre.

On 20 October 2016, Victoria Gate shopping centre opened with its flagship store, John Lewis. Three quarters of the stores in Victoria Gate were the first for the retailers outside of London.[138]

Of the 40,000 people who work in retailing in Leeds, three quarters work in the wider district.[139] The Springs, located to the east of the city suburbs, just off junction 46 of the M1.[140]

M621 heading towards Central Leeds

It is the A62, A63, A64, A65, A647, and A660 roads' starting points. The city is situated on the A58, A61, M1, and M62 – the latter two intersect to its south of Leeds and the A1(M) passes to the east.

The radial M621 takes traffic into central Leeds from the M62 and M1. There is an Inner Ring Road with part motorway status and an Outer Ring Road. Part of the city centre[149] is pedestrianised, and is encircled by the clockwise-only Loop Road. The East Leeds Orbital Route's construction started in summer 2019 with completion due by the end of 2021.[150][151]

Transport in Leeds is dominated by car usage: in 2018 it was the 9th most congested UK city, costing £1,057 per driver.[152]

Public transport in the Leeds area is coordinated and developed by West Yorkshire Metro,[153] with service information provided by the company and Leeds City Council.[154] There is a coach station for National Express coach services in the city.

Leeds Bus Station

The main type of public transport in Leeds are bus services. Leeds City bus station (on Dyer Street) has long-distance bus services to nearby towns and cities and a small number of local area services. The main providers are First Leeds and Arriva Yorkshire, the latter serves routes in the city's south. Harrogate Bus Company provides a service to Harrogate and Ripon. Keighley Bus Company provides a service to Shipley, Bingley, and Keighley. The Yorkshire Coastliner service runs from Leeds to Scarborough and Whitby via York and Malton. Stagecoach in Hull provides a service to Hull via Goole. Stagecoach Yorkshire provides services to Barnsley. Also Transdev operates Flyer services to Leeds Bradford Airport.

Air quality in Leeds was declared as "unsafe" by the World Health Organization in May 2019. Neville Street, near Leeds railway station, has been measured as the most polluted outside London.[155][156] A Clean Air Zone, throughout north Leeds and the city centre, was proposed in 2018. The plan, similar to the London Low Emission Zone, would charge a daily fee for driving "older models of buses, taxis and HGVs" in the zone.[157] The zone was planned to start charging vehicles in January 2020, before being cancelled altogether in October 2020 due to improvements in the city's air quality.[158][159][160]

Leeds railway station

In 2017 Leeds had the third busiest railway station[161] outside of London. From the station at New Station Street, West Yorkshire Metro trains operated by Northern run to Leeds' suburbs, the wider area, national and international connections. It has 18 platforms, the most outside of London.[162] High Speed 2 Phase Two was intended to connect Leeds to London via East Midlands Hub and Sheffield until this section of route was removed from the project in November 2021.

The borough, governed from Leeds, has 16 railway stations. A parkway station serving Leeds Bradford Airport and two other new stations in the area, planned for within the next 20 years, were announced in 2016.[163]

Leeds and the rest of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area has less extensive public transport coverage than any other UK city region of comparable size, and it is the most populated area in Europe without any form of light rail or underground system.[164]

Leeds Bradford International Airport

Leeds Bradford International Airport is located in Yeadon, about 8 miles (13 km) to the north-west of the city centre, and has direct flights to 8 UK destinations and 70 international destinations. The airport is the tenth busiest airport outside London,[165] with scheduled services running to London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Dublin, and Barcelona. There is also a direct rail service from Leeds to Manchester Airport.[166]

Plans for a public transport network in Leeds have been suggested:

• In the 1940s, there were plans to build an extensive underground system, not built due to the Second World War.[167]
• The Leeds Supertram in the 1990s had £500 million in funding to be provided, this was cancelled, with £40 million already spent on the project, by the Transport Minister Alistair Darling in 2005 due to unforeseen added costs.
• A proposed £250 million re-introduction of trolleybus in 2007; the plans were cancelled in May 2016 citing little value for money, after millions of pounds spent on inquiries.[168]

In June 2019, as part of his bid to become Prime Minister, Boris Johnson stated that it was "madness" that Leeds did not have a metro system.[169] In December 2019, during his first Queen's Speech, Johnson promised to "remedy the scandal that Leeds is the largest city in Western Europe without light rail or a metro".[170]

The Leeds Country Way is a waymarked circular walk of 62 miles (100 km) through the rural outskirts of the city, never more than 7 miles (11 km) from City Square. The Meanwood Valley Trail leads from Woodhouse Moor along Meanwood Beck to Golden Acre Park. The Leeds extension of the Dales Way follows the Meanwood Valley Trail before it branches off to head towards Ilkley and Windermere. Leeds is on the northern section of the Trans Pennine Trail for walkers and cyclists, and the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is another popular walking and cycling route. The White Rose Way walking trail to Scarborough begins at City Square. In addition, there are many parks and public footpaths in both the urban and rural parts of Leeds, and The Ramblers' Association, YHA and other walking organisations offer sociable walks. The Ramblers' Association publish various booklets of walks in and around Leeds.[171]

Leeds has 16 museums and galleries including nine that are council-run. Smaller museums in Leeds include Otley Museum; Horsforth Village Museum;[172] ULITA, an Archive of International Textiles;[173] and the museum at Fulneck Moravian Settlement.

Leeds City Museum

Leeds City Museum opened in 2008[174] at Millennium Square. It is a major museum for the city: showcasing its designated collections of local history; world cultures; natural history; archaeology and fine and decorative arts plus a diverse programme of special exhibitions.

Abbey House Museum is housed in the former gatehouse of Kirkstall Abbey, and includes walk-through Victorian streets and galleries describing the history of the abbey, childhood, and Victorian Leeds.

Armley Mills Industrial Museum is housed in what was once the world's largest woollen mill,[175] and includes industrial machinery and railway locomotives. This museum also shows the first known moving pictures in the world which were taken in the city, by Louis Le Prince, of a Roundhay Garden Scene and of Leeds Bridge in 1888. These short film clips can be found on YouTube.

The Thackray Museum is a museum of the history of medicine, featuring topics such as Victorian public health, pre-anaesthesia surgery, and safety in childbirth. It is housed in a former workhouse next to St James's Hospital.

Royal Armouries Museum

The Royal Armouries Museum, the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour, opened in 1996 in a dramatic modern building when this part of the collection was transferred from the Tower of London. It is located a short distance from the city centre at Leeds Dock.

Thwaite Mills Watermill Museum is a fully restored 1820s water-powered mill on the River Aire to the east of the city centre.

Leeds Museum Discovery Centre

Nearby is the Leeds Museum Discovery Centre (formerly housed at the Leeds Museum Resource Centre in Yeadon),[176] the major storage of items not currently on display in museums, and open to the public by appointment.[176][177]

Parkinson Building at the University of Leeds

Broadcasting Tower at Leeds Beckett University

Further education in Leeds is provided by Elliott Hudson College, Leeds City College (formed by a merger in 2009 and having over 60,000 students), Leeds College of Building, University Technical College (UTC) Leeds, and Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College.

The city is served by five universities, has the UK's fourth-largest student population and the country's fourth-largest urban economy.[178] Institutions providing higher education include:

• The University of Leeds, which received its charter in 1904 having developed from the Yorkshire College which was founded in 1874 and the Leeds School of Medicine of 1831;
• Leeds Beckett University, formerly Leeds Polytechnic, which became a university in 1992 as Leeds Metropolitan University, and can trace its roots to the Mechanics' Institute of 1824;
• Leeds Trinity University, which began in 1966 as two teacher training colleges which merged in 1980 to form Trinity and All Saints College and became a university in 2012;
• Leeds Arts University, formerly Leeds College of Art, which was founded in 1846 as the Leeds School of Art, and became a university in 2017;
• The University of Law, formerly the College of Law, which became a university in 2012 and moved to its current Leeds centre campus from York in 2014;
• Leeds Conservatoire;
• Northern School of Contemporary Dance;
• University Centre Leeds, part of Leeds City College.[179]

The University of Leeds has about 31,000 students, of which 21,500 are full-time or sandwich undergraduate degree students,[180] Leeds Beckett University has 25,805[181] students of which 12,000 are full-time or sandwich undergraduate degree students and 2,100 full-time or sandwich HND students.[182] Leeds Trinity University has just under 3,000 students.[183] The city was voted the Best UK University Destination by a survey in The Independent newspaper.[184]

At the time of the 2001 census Leeds had a population of 183,000 young people aged 0–19 of whom 110,000 were attending local authority schools.[185] In 2008 Education Leeds, a non-profit company owned by Leeds City Council, provided for 220 primary schools, 39 secondary schools and 6 special inclusive learning centres.[186] Under the government Building Schools for the Future initiative, Leeds secured £260m to transform 13 secondary schools into high achieving, e-confident, inclusive schools. The first three of these schools at Allerton High School, Pudsey Grammar School, and Rodillian School were opened in September 2008.[187] The demand for primary school places in Leeds has recently hit a 15-year peak, with an estimated 10,500 new starters this year.[188] The city's oldest and largest private school is the Grammar School at Leeds, which was legally re-created in 2005 following the merger of Leeds Grammar School, established in 1552, and Leeds Girls' High School, established in 1876. Other independent schools in Leeds include faith schools serving the Jewish[189] and Muslim[190] communities.

Leeds was one of a number of local authorities to try the three-tier system with first, middle and secondary schools. It reverted to the two-tier system in 1992.

Henry Moore Statue outside Leeds Art Gallery

Leeds Art Gallery, which opened in 1888, houses the best twentieth century collection outside London and a colourful wall painting for the Victorian staircase by Lothar Götz. The gallery is owned and operated by Leeds City Council and is free to members of the public. Just next door, The Henry Moore Institute hosts a year-round programme of historical, modern and contemporary exhibitions presenting sculpture from across the world.[192]

Located in the art deco headquarters of the former brewery, The Tetley is a centre for contemporary art. The Gallery at 164 is an independent art gallery exhibiting artists, illustrators, photographers and designers working in all types of media.

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery offers art exhibitions from the University Art Collection and Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery.

Art is taught in Leeds at Leeds College of Art which has alumni including Henry Moore and Damien Hirst.

Leeds city centre has a variety of statues and sculptures on public display. The city also features and ever-growing host of street art and urban murals, including the UK's tallest mural 'Athena Rising'.[193] This mural is part of a city-wide project 'A City Less Grey', initiated by East Street Arts, which won a national award at the Planning Awards 2018.[194]

Leeds West Indian Carnival

Light Night: one of the UK's largest annual arts and light festivals

Leeds West Indian Carnival is Western Europe's oldest West Indian Carnival, and the UK's third-largest after the Notting Hill and Nottingham Carnival.[195][196] It attracts around 100,000 people over 2 days to the streets of Chapeltown and Harehills. There is a large procession that finishes at Potternewton Park, where there are stalls, entertainment and refreshments. The Leeds Festival, featuring some of the biggest names in rock and indie music, takes place every year in Bramham Park. The Leeds Asian Festival, formerly the Leeds Mela, is held in Roundhay Park.[197] The Otley Folk Festival (patron: Nic Jones),[198] Walking Festival,[199] Carnival,[200] and Victorian Christmas Fayre[201] are annual events. Light Night Leeds takes place each October, and many venues in the city are open to the public for Heritage Open Days in September.[202] The Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, established in 1963 by Fanny Waterman and Marion Stein, has been held in the city every three years since 1963 and has launched the careers of many major concert pianists. The Leeds International Concert Season, which includes orchestral and choral concerts in Leeds Town Hall and other events, is the largest local authority music programme in the UK.[203]

The Leeds International Film Festival is the largest film festival in England outside London[204] and shows films from around the world. It incorporates the highly successful Leeds Young People's Film Festival, which features exciting and innovative films made both for and by children and young people.[205] Garforth is host to the fortnight-long festival The Garforth Arts Festival which has been an annual event since 2005. The Chapel Allerton Arts Festival is a week-long music and arts event starting in 1998 and held the week after August Bank Holiday each year.[206] The Leeds Festival Fringe is a week long-music festival created in 2010 to showcase local talent in the week prior to Leeds Festival.

Light Night, one of the UK's largest annual arts and light festivals, takes place in the first week of October, turning the entire city into an art installation with light shows, projections, installations and lots more.[207]

Leeds Pride is an annual LGBT+ festival held since 2006 supported by the city council and local business.[208] In 2018 attendance was 40,000[209] with over 100 floats and benefits the city by over £3.8 million.[209][210][211] The city has a sponsorship scheme for its 15 Rainbow Plaques commemorating places and events that are of significance to the LGBT+ community organised through Leeds Civic Trust.[212]

Other festivals include Transform and Thought Bubble.

Louis Le Prince

In October 1888 Louis Le Prince filmed moving picture sequences Roundhay Garden Scene and a Leeds Bridge street scene using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper film.[213] These were several years before the work of competing inventors such as Auguste and Louis Lumière and Thomas Edison. Today, Leeds International Film Festival's International Short Film Competition is named after Louis Le Prince.[214] The 2015 documentary film The First Film, which first aired at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, documents Le Prince's pioneering status.[215]

Wordsworth Donisthorpe who was also from Leeds, filmed the second-oldest-surviving film. It is not known if he and Louis Le Prince ever met but they both had a strong connection to the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. Donisthorpe's patent for a camera to capture the moving image pre dated Le Prince's by twelve years.

Leeds has a rich film exhibition culture. In addition to the Leeds International Film Festival and Leeds Young Film Festival, the city hosts numerous independent cinemas and pop-up venues for film screenings.[216] The Cottage Road Cinema and Hyde Park Picture House have continuously been showing films since 1912 and 1914, respectively, which ranks them among the oldest still-running cinemas in the UK.[217]

Leeds has produced many writers of note, including celebrated author and playwright Alan Bennett. J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, lived and taught in Leeds from 1921 to 1925.[218]

Leeds Central Library, the city's public library is located on Calverley Street, near many of Leeds' other municipal buildings.[219] The Leeds Library in Commercial Street is a private subscription library, and the oldest surviving library of this kind in the UK.[220] The British Library houses a significant portion of its collection just outside Boston Spa, a village within the City of Leeds. The Boston Spa location is home to the library's newspaper archive, which contains over 20 million items.[221] The library also plans to open a facility in Leeds City Centre, potentially in the Grade I listed Temple Works in the South Bank area.[222]

In 2019 and 2020, Leeds hosted the Leeds Lit Fest, a "non-traditional" literature festival, incorporating talks, panels & workshops.[223]

There are plans to create a National Poetry Centre in Leeds.[224]

Waterloo Lake in Roundhay Park, one of the largest urban parks in Europe

The Mansion at Temple Newsam

Leeds has many large parks and open spaces. Roundhay Park is the largest park in the city and is one of the largest city parks in Europe. The park has more than 700 acres (2.8 km²)[225] of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens which are all owned by Leeds City Council. Other parks in the city include: Beckett Park, Bramley Fall Park, Cross Flatts Park, East End Park, Golden Acre Park,[226] Gotts Park,[227] the gardens and grounds of Harewood House, Horforth Hall Park, Meanwood Park, Middleton Park, Potternewton Park, Pudsey Park,[228] Temple Newsam, Western Flatts Park and Woodhouse Moor. There are many more smaller parks and open spaces scattered around the city, which make up around 21.7% of the city's total area. A 2017 survey ranked Leeds 7th among the ten largest UK cities (by population) for the amount of green space, although published comments on the survey pointed out major inconsistencies in the city boundaries used.[229]

As part of the South Bank regeneration project, plans are in development for Aire Park, a new 3.5 hectare city centre park located close to the former Tetley Brewery site.[230] Planning permission for the first phase to be undertaken by Vastint UK was granted in December 2018.[231]

In 2023, the Monk Bridge viaduct was restored by a developer and subsequently opened as the Monk Bridge Viaduct Garden. The elevated garden/park became known fairly instantly for its spectacular views.[232]

Leeds is home to the refurbished Grand Theatre where the only national opera company outside London, Opera North, is based.[233] The City Varieties Music Hall is one of the UK's few remaining music halls, and famously hosted performances by Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini. It was also the venue of the BBC television programme The Good Old Days. The newest theatre, containing two auditoriums, is the Leeds Playhouse, which had formerly been known as the West Yorkshire Playhouse.[234][235][236] Just south of Leeds Bridge once stood The Theatre which hosted Sarah Siddons and Ching Lau Lauro in 1786 and 1834, respectively.[237][238]

Leeds is also home to Phoenix Dance Theatre, who were formed in the Harehills area of the city in 1981, and Northern Ballet Theatre.[239] In autumn 2010 the two companies moved into a purpose-built dance centre which is the largest space for dance outside London. It is also the only space for dance to house a national classical and a national contemporary dance company alongside each another.[240]

The First Direct Arena[241] opened in September 2013. The 13,500-seater stadium is rapidly becoming the city's number one venue for live music, indoor sports and many other events. Concerts are also held at the O2 Academy, Elland Road, which has hosted groups such as Queen and Kaiser Chiefs, among others and at the universities. Roundhay Park in north Leeds has seen some of the world's biggest artists including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Robbie Williams.

Popular musical acts originating from Leeds include Soft Cell, Kaiser Chiefs, The Pigeon Detectives, The Wedding Present, The Sunshine Underground, The Sisters of Mercy, Hadouken!, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Yard Act, Pulled Apart by Horses, Gang of Four, Hood, The Rhythm Sisters, Utah Saints, Alt-J, and Melanie B of the Spice Girls.[242][243][244][245][246][247]

Leeds First Direct Arena

On Valentine's Day 1970, The Who performed and recorded their album Live at Leeds at the University of Leeds Refectory. Since its initial reception, Live at Leeds has been cited by several music critics as the best live rock recording of all time.[248][249][250]

Pink Floyd's popular second single "See Emily Play" was written in Leeds in 1967 after a gig in the old Leeds City College Technology Campus, then known as Kitson College.[251]

Leeds is the only city outside of London to have its own repertory theatre, ballet, and opera companies.[252]

Leeds is Purple Flag accredited to indicate an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night.[253]

Leeds has the fourth largest student population in the country (over 200,000[254]), and is therefore one of the UK's hotspots for night-life. There are a large number of pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants, as well as a multitude of venues for live music. The full range of music tastes is catered for in Leeds. It includes the original home of the famous club nights Back 2 Basics, Speedqueen and Vague.[255] Morley was the location of techno club The Orbit.[256] Leeds has a number of large 'super-clubs' and there is a selection of independent clubs such as Club Mission and Mint Club, which is consistently ranked as one of the world's best clubs by DJ Magazine. Two other Leeds clubs, The Warehouse and The Garage, featured in the Top 100 Clubs list from 2013.[257] The Garage has since closed.

The F Club was club night that ran in Leeds between 1977 and 1982 and specialised in punk rock and post-punk.[258][259] It would prove highly influential to the development of the goth subculture, due to it leading to the formation of seminal gothic rock bands like The Sisters of Mercy, The March Violets, and Southern Death Cult.[260] The now-defunct club Le Phonographique was located in the Merrion Centre and was the first gothic nightclub in the world.[261][262]

Leeds has a well established LGBT+ nightlife scene, predominantly located in the Freedom Quarter on Lower Briggate.[263] The New Penny is one of the UK's longest running LGBT+ venues, and Leeds oldest gay bar. The Viaduct Showbar holds drag cabaret, live shows and DJs. Other places include The Bridge, Blayds Bar, Tunnel Leeds and Queens Court.

Popular areas for nightlife in Leeds include Call Lane, Briggate and the Arena Quarter. Towards Millennium Square is a growing entertainment district providing for both students and weekend visitors. The square has many bars and restaurants and a large outdoor screen. Millennium Square is a venue for large seasonal events such as a Christmas market, gigs and concerts, and citywide parties. It is adjacent to the Mandela Gardens, which were opened by Nelson Mandela in 2001. A number of public art features, fountains, and greenery can be found here.

Yorkshire has a great history of real ale,[264] but several bars near the railway station are fusing traditional beers with a modern bar. Popular bars such as this include The Hop, The Cross Keys and The Brewery Tap. Leeds also hosts an annual Leeds International Beer Festival, held at Leeds Town Hall every September.

• Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig: 23 January 1920.[297]
• Admiral of the Fleet David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty: 18 October 1922.[298]
• David Lloyd George: 21 October 1922.[299]
• Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax: 5 March 1923.[300]
• Stanley Baldwin: 13 March 1925.
• H. H. Asquith: 13 March 1925.
• Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron Moynihan: 6 October 1926.
• Sir William Middlebrook: 6 October 1926.
• Sir Edward Brotherton: 6 October 1926.[300]
• Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden: 11 September 1930.
• Arthur Greenwood: 11 September 1930.[300][301]
• Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood: 7 July 1932.[302]
• H. V. Evatt: 7 July 1943.[303]
• Sir Winston Churchill: 28 October 1958.[304]
• Major James Milner, 1st Baron Milner of Leeds: 1967.
• Nelson Mandela: 30 April 2001.[305]
• Dame Fanny Waterman: April 2004.
• Jane Tomlinson : 20 May 2005.[306]
• Alan Bennett: 12 March 2006.
• James Heselden: 26 January 2011.[307] (Awarded Posthumously)
• Beryl Burton: 12 September 2014.[308] (Awarded Posthumously)
• Rob Burrow: 20 December 2022[309]
• Kevin Sinfield: 20 December 2022[309]

• HMS Ark Royal, RN: 4 November 1941.[310]
• RAF Church Fenton: 1971.
• HMS Ark Royal, RN: 25 October 1973.[311][312]
• 5th Battalion The Rifles: 1 August 2009.[313]
• 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment: 9 December 2020.[314]
• Leeds Rifles
• Leeds Pals
• 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot

• Leeds United FC 1967–74: 4 December 2019.[315]