Settlements

• • A place where people live 
  • Site: the actual land on which the settlement is built 
  • Mega city : a city with more than 10 million people 
• Hamlets


  Smaller than a village where there is no church
• Conurbations


  A region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area
• Urban land use


  A simplified model of the land use (e.g industries and housing)
• Sphere of influence


  The specific area served by a settlement for a variety of function such as education and healthcare
• Function/services


  A classification of settlements based on their socionomic functions (e.g market towns)
• Threshold population


  The minimum number of people necessary before a particular good or service will be provided in an area
• High order goods


  Expensive services and goods such as electrical goods, that the shopper will buy only after making a comparison between various models and different shops
• Low order goods


  Items or services that are purchased, such as milk and bread
• Range


  The distance that people are prepared to travel to obtain good and services
• Types of rural settlements


  • Nucleated settlement
  • Dispersed settlement
  • Linear settlement
• Factors affecting siting of a rural settlement

  • Water supply
  • Fertile soils for growing crops
  • Relief - gently sloping lands - aids drainage
  • Resources - e.g - wood for building
  • Access links to other settlements
  • Defense - raised land
• Growth and function of settlements


  • They can support non-farming services (e.g builders and teachers)
  • They can provide a wider range of functions
  • They grow where there are goods and valuable resources (e.g - south africa)
  • Settlements have grown if food production is favorable
• Problems with the growth of urban settlements


  • Pollution
  • Overcrowded
  • Expensive
  • Decline in retail
  • Shops close and cbd becomes less attractive
  • Crime
  • Traffic congestion
  • Housing shortage pressure on services
  • High rates of immigration
• Air pollution


  The major sources are motor vehicles, industries, power stations and open fires
• Carbon monoxide


  Can lead to a reduction in supply of oxygen causing health issues from vehicle exhausts
• Carbon dioxide


  Causes global warming
• Noise pollution


  • Happens in urban areas with lots of vehicles, factories, trains and airplanes
  • Lots of noise at night from bars and clubs that causes sleep and stress
• Water pollution


  • Happens when rivers flow through urban areas and also in the groundwaters that are being used for drinking
  • Health issues including raw sewages that are in areas in shanty settlements where there is no sanitation
  • These sewages that are not being collected gets into seas and rivers
• Transport strategies and solutions


  • Social
  • Economic
  • Environmental
• Impacts of transport issues


  • Delays of emergency services
  • Late to work
  • Air pollution
  • Traffic jams
  • Loss of income
  • Noise pollution
  • Road rage
  • Water pollution
• CBD (Central Business District)


  The most congested part of the city
• Reasons for CBD congestion


  • People have more money to purchase vehicles
  • The oldest streets in the center are the narrowest
  • People have multiple vehicles
  • The streets were laid out before cars were invented
• Integrated traffic policy


  1. Congestion charge

  2. Boris bikes

  3. Cycle bones

  4. Ring roads
• Congestion charge


  You can reduce the traffic by finding people with high taxes
• Boris bikes


  • Improvement in infrastructure like making bike lanes
  • Cycle loans safety
  • They separate the cyclists from motor vehicles, reducing the risk of accidents
• Ring roads


  • Improving public transport like promoting flexible work arrangements
  • Investing alternative transport modes such as cycling and walking infrastructure
  • Can help to reduce the cars on the roads
• Urban sprawl


  The spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs
• Green belt


  Areas at the edge of urban areas where development is restricted
• Brownfield sites


  Old industrial sites or previously developed areas within urban areas
• Problems of urban sprawl


  • Lack of facilities and services for residents
  • Loss of agricultural lands
  • High costs of providing necessary facilities
  • High costs of new infrastructure
  • Causes and increase in racial and socioeconomic segregation
• Land use in rural-urban fringe


  • Parks
  • Country parks
  • Gardens
  • Cemeteries
  • Sport centers
  • Golf
  • Horse riding centers
  • Forests
  • Low density housing