It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom.

[11] The student population has stimulated growth of the nightlife in the city and there are ample facilities for sporting and cultural activities, including classical and popular music festivals, and a varied collection of museums.

[24] 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.

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.

[29] Alongside technological advances and industrial expansion, Leeds retained an interest in trading in agricultural commodities, with the Corn Exchange opening in 1864.

[34] 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.

[52] 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.

Another 36,000 houses were built by private sector builders, creating suburbs in Gledhow, Moortown, Alwoodley, Roundhay, Colton, Whitkirk, Oakwood, Weetwood, and Adel.

The centre of Leeds is part of a continuously built-up area extending to Pudsey, Bramley, Horsforth, Alwoodley, Seacroft, Middleton and Morley.

Over 65% of the Leeds district is green belt land and the city centre is less than twenty miles (32 km) from the Yorkshire Dales National Park,[57] which has some of the most spectacular scenery and countryside in the UK.

Attempts to define the exact geographic meaning of Leeds lead to a variety of concepts of its extent, varying by context include the area of the city centre, the urban sprawl, the administrative boundaries, and the functional region.

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.

[68] 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 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).

The last reported tornado occurred on 14 September 2006, causing trees to uproot and signal failures at Leeds City railway station.

[113][114] Major companies based in the city include William Hill, Channel 4, International Personal Finance, Asda, Leeds Building Society and Northern Foods.

Elland Road (football) and Headingley Stadium (cricket and rugby) are well known to sports enthusiasts, and the White Rose Centre is a well-known retail outlet.

[151] In December 2019, in 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] Leeds Bradford Airport is in Yeadon, about 8 miles (13 km) to the north-west of the city centre, and has direct flights to eight UK and 70 international destinations.

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.

[191][192] 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.

Just next door, The Henry Moore Institute hosts a year-round programme of historical, modern and contemporary exhibitions presenting sculpture from across the world.

[196] Two bronze statues stand at Elland Road Stadium celebrating former manager Don Revie and team captain Billy Bremner.

[205] 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.

[212][213][214] 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.

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.

[265][266] 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.

Free publications include the Leeds Weekly News, produced by Yorkshire Post Newspapers in four geographic versions and distributed to households in the main urban area of the city,[274] and the regional version of Metro, which is distributed on buses and at railway stations.BBC Television and ITV both have regional studios and broadcasting centres in Leeds, while Channel 4 opened a new headquarters at the Majestic in 2020.

[280][281][282] The City of Leeds Synchronised Swimming Club train at the John Charles Centre for Sport and are represented by swimmers throughout the whole of the North East.

There is also a colourful religious annual procession, called the Nagar Kirtan, into Millennium Square in the city centre on 13–14 April to celebrate Vaisakhi—the Sikh New Year and the birth of the religion.