that sets district boundaries based upon strictly geographic/population factors.
The Boundary Commissions are required to apply a series of rules when designing constituencies.
Firstly, each proposed constituency has to comply with 2 numerical limits:
the electorate of each constituency must be within 5% of the United Kingdom electoral quota. This number is the total mainland electorate divided by the number of mainland constituencies, which is 596. In simple terms, it is the average electorate of a mainland constituency.
the area of a constituency must be no more than 13,000 square kilometres.
There are a small number of exceptions to the numerical limit on electorate which are specified in the legislation:
the four protected island constituencies mentioned above are each permitted to have a smaller electorate than the usual limit;
a constituency with an area of more than 12,000 square kilometres may have a smaller electorate than the usual limit; and
constituencies in Northern Ireland may be subject to slightly different limits under certain circumstances.
Having satisfied the electorate and area requirements, each Commission can also take into account a number of other factors:
"special geographical considerations" including the size, shape and accessibility of a constituency;
local government boundaries;
boundaries of existing constituencies;
local ties which would be broken by changes to constituencies;
inconveniences resulting from changes to constituencies.
It is obvious that the other factors are to an extent mutually contradictory, and therefore each Commission has discretion on how it applies them. In doing so, each Commission aims for a consistent approach within a review.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Commissions_%28United_Kingdom%29
This kind of system is badly needed in the US.
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