Lancing is a mix of coastal urban dwelling and rural chalk downland landscape. The oldest non religious buildings date to around 1500 AD The current population in 2002 is around 19,000 and covers an area of 894.2 hectares
Tourism: The town has been a popular seaside resort particularly in the mid-19th c. It gained favour from the gentry of the time for its secluded atmosphere. The town today no longer has a notable tourist trade although there are a number of small guest houses mainly on the coast road.
Beaches: There is a shingle beach with good stretches of clean sand at low water. South of the A259 coast road is Widewater, an internationally rare brackish (slightly saline) lagoon.
Immediately north of the developed area is Lancing Ring, a Local Nature Reserve, part of the designated Sussex Downland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). To the north of that is farmed agricultural downland connected to Lancing College Farm
Industry: Much of the land now covered with housing was taken by a number of family run Market Gardening businesses growing fruit or flowers for the Brighton Market or Covent Garden in London. 'Sparks Nursery' was growing fruit such as Tomatoes. There was 'Mr Marshall's Nursery' and 'Young's' produced Carnations. Chrysanthemums were grown by Frank Lisher on his land south of 'The Finches', the name of the house he built. The Nash family were fruit growers, producing grapes huge under glass cloches that could be rolled into place on a rail track. In the early part of the 20th century the town developed a railway carriage building industry in the area that is now the Churchill industrial estate at the western edge of town.
Twinning Adur is twinned with the town of Riom in France and the town of Zywiec in Poland.