CIE Geo - Settlement

• rural


  countryside area (few houses/people)

  
• urban


  city/town area (more houses/people)

  
• urbanisation


  increase in population in urban areas
• settlement


  A place where people live.
• factors influencing sites + developments of rural areas

  - relief

  - water supply

  - defense

  - fertile soil

  - natural resources e.g stone, wood
• Dispersed settlement


  isolated dwellings

  
• Nucleated settlement


  buildings clustered around a point

  
• reasons for nucleated settlement

  - Defence

  - Trade

  - Co-operative community - agriculture, water, work

  - Floodplain - safer to group on a hilltop
• linear settlement


  buildings positioned along a road/river (line)

  
• reasons for linear settlement

  transport/trade routes
• Characteristics of Settlements

  - position in settlement hierachy

  - number of them compared to others e.g more hamlets than villages/towns

  - pop size

  - number of services

  - low/high order goods/services

  - range/sof.
• site


  the physical land that a settlement is situated on
• situation


  the position of a settlement in relation to other surrounding features e.g rivers, other settlements
• Dry point site


  a settlement site on dry land above the floodplain (good for defence)
• Wet point site


  A settlement site in a place with good access to water (eg. Near river).
• defensive site


  A settlement site on high ground/a hill
• nodal point


  A point where natural routes converge.
• bridging point


  a settlement site where a river is narrow or shallow enough to be bridged
• settlement hierachy


  definition: arrangement of settlements in an order of importance, more isolated dwellings than conurbations, however they have smaller populations and fewer services (relationship between settlement size and services in a settlement)

  
  

  - Conurbation, City, Town, Village, Hamlet, Isolated dwellings

  
• high order services


  specialised, more rare items e.g sofa, rings
• low order services


  more common goods e.g newspaper, milk
• sphere of influence


  area served by a particular service in a settlement (e.g chelsea football club -> global s.o.f, grocery store has small s.o.f)
• why would a sphere of influence be high?

  - good transport links

  - less competition for the service from surrounding areas (price is important factor)

  - if the good is a high/low order

  
  

  can change e.g traffic/weather, a services' sphere of influence can fluctuate
• why do some places only have low order goods

  - smaller population -> less dependancy of goods

  - less transport links
• range


  furthest distance people are willing to travel to obtain a good or service
• threshold population


  minimum number of people required to support a service e.g Doctor's surgery - 2500.
• function


  purpose of a settlement

  often characterised by low/high order types of services

  e.g residential, industrial, commercial, tourism etc
• land use models


  theories which attempt to explain the layout of urban areas
• big rent theory


  - value of land for different purposes

  - closer to cbd, the more the land is valued at (expensive), due to better access

  -buildings are taller as land is expensive and there is lack of space due to high demand.

  
• burgess model


  - cbd in centre (oldest part of city), factories located here

  - towns grew outwards in concentric circles from cbd

  - houses become newer further out

  - income of occupants increases further out (bigger houses+more space)

  
• hoyt model


  - importance of public transport as part of development

  - land use in wedges along main transport system

  - transport direct to cbd (boosts trade, access for workers, importing/exporting raw materials)

  
• CBD


  Central Business District (commercial centre of city)
• residential


  area designed for people to live in
• industrial


  an area characterised by industry
• congestion


  overcrowding
• pollution


  Release of harmful materials into the environment
• urban sprawl


  unplanned, uncontrolled growth of cities into surrounding countryside area.
• Problems of urban sprawl

  - Increased pollution/global warming from burnt co2

  - Increased traffic congestion

  - Health issues

  - Loss of agricultural land/green spaces

  - Loss of trade in city centres

  - increased temp -> concrete

  - conflict between locals and newcommers
• E.g traffic congestion 5 marker impacts

  Increased traffic congestion -> stress -> people late to work

  -> impacts business profit -> people have respiratory issues
• features of cbd


  - tall, multi story buildings

  - functions e.g shops, offices, entertainment

  - high land value/prices

  - little space

  - transport centres