Leeds population includes towns like otley .......miles away from the city of Leeds

It's like Newcastle , population wise it is given as smaller than Cardiff but go there and it is part of a huge urban sprawl that merges into one ......Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside etc

It's all very confusing but go to Manchester city centre and compare the size of the buildings and amenities to Leeds and the difference is enormous ......Manchester city centre is huge and serves as an urban core for the city of Manchester , whose population is given as smaller than Leeds ......and Stockport , Wigan , Oldham , Rochdale , Bury etc