Question: How many settlements have been designated city status in England?
About the article "England", section "Major conurbations".

Candidate passages:
The Greater London Urban Area is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the busiest cities in the world.
It is considered a global city and has a population larger than other countries in the United Kingdom besides England itself.
Other urban areas of considerable size and influence tend to be in northern England or the English Midlands.
There are fifty settlements which have been designated city status in England, while the wider United Kingdom has sixty-six.
While many cities in England are quite large in size, such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham and others, a large population is not necessarily a prerequisite for a settlement to be afforded city status.
Traditionally the status was afforded to towns with diocesan cathedrals and so there are smaller cities like Wells, Ely, Ripon, Truro and Chichester.
According to the Office for National Statistics the ten largest, continuous built-up urban areas are:
In modern times, the chief settlements in Renfrewshire have been the towns of Paisley and Greenock and to this day they retain their status as the county's largest and second largest towns respectively.
In the late 19th century, the county was subdivided into two wards centred on these towns, the Upper Ward (Paisley) and Lower Ward (Greenock).
Renfrew was the only town in the county to hold status as a royal burgh.
Three other considerable towns, Paisley, Greenock and Port Glasgow, were designated as parliamentary burghs.
Barrhead, Pollokshaws (now part of the City of Glasgow), Gourock, and Johnstone were, during parts of the 19th and 20th century, police burghs as a result of their larger population, giving greater powers of local governance to local burgh authorities.
The county also contains a number of significantly sized villages, such as Kilmacolm, Neilston and Lochwinnoch.
These administrative separations are entirely extinct, with unitary councils in Renfrewshire's three modern council areas - Inverclyde (West), Renfrewshire (Central) and East Renfrewshire - holding full statutory powers of local government.
Many of these settlements continue to be represented by community councils, sponsored by the local authority, albeit without any distinct powers. 
This is a link page for towns in Wales.
In Wales, as in England and Northern Ireland, a town is any settlement which has received a charter of incorporation, more commonly known as a town charter, approved by the monarch.
Fifty-five boroughs in Wales were given parliamentary representation in 1536, but the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 recognised only 20 Welsh boroughs.
Subsequent urban growth led to the designation of other places as boroughs, including Wrexham, Rhondda, Barry and Merthyr Tydfil, but many other settlements were only granted the status of urban district.
The Local Government Act 1972 allows civil parishes in England and Wales to resolve themselves to be town councils.
Until the 16th century, a town was recognised as a city if it had a diocesan cathedral within its limits.
The city of St David's, with a population of about 2,000, received its city status in this way.
St Asaph acquired city status in 2012 as part of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
For convenience, cities have also been listed, marked in bold. 
In the UK, a city council is:In England:  The council of metropolitan or non-metropolitan district that has been granted city status.
A parish council that has been granted city status.
The council of a London borough that has been granted city status (of which there is only one: Westminster City Council), or the City of London Corporation.
In Wales:  The council of a principal area that has been granted city status.
A community council that has been granted city status.
In Scotland:  The council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc.
(Scotland) Act 1994.
In Northern Ireland  The council of a local government district created by the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 that either adopted the charter of an existing city corporation in 1973, or that has since been granted city status.  
Position in an accepted settlement hierarchy implies status which in turn reinforces the position of the settlement in the hierarchy.
Status can derive from being the residence of a King or high-ranking member of the nobility or from being the location of a major religious establishment.
A formal hierarchy of settlements, known as a multiple estate appears to have been common in 10th century England.
The centre of an estate (often called a "caput") could be supported by subsidiary settlements sometimes given specialised roles.
For example, a Saxon royal estate might be supported by settlements specialising in production of cheese or barley or maintaining flocks of sheep.