SETTLEMENTS AND SERVICE CH. 1.

5
PROVISION
 INTRODUCTION

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J
KT7cSFf2ic
(EVOLUTION OF SETTLEMEMT)
WATCH THE VIDEO AND SUMMARISE THE
IDEAS IN 1 MINUTE. SO, PAY ATTENTION,
MAKE NOTES AND PREPARE TO EXPLAIN
WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT
 KEY TERMS
• Settlement: is a place where
people live. A settlement may be
as small as a single house in a
remote area or as a large as
a mega city (a city with over 10
million residents).
• Site: is the actual location of a
settlement on the earth and is
composed of the physical
characteristics of the landscape
specific to the area. Site factors
include things like landforms (i.e.
is the area protected by
mountains or is there a natural
harbor present?), climate,
vegetation types, availability of
water, soil quality, minerals, and
even wildlife.
 KEY TERMS
• Situation: is defined as the location
of a place relative to its
surroundings and other places.
Factors included in an area's
situation include the accessibility of
the location, the extent of a place's
connections with another, and how
close an area may be to raw
materials if they are not located
specifically on the site.
• Urban: The built up area, any city
with a population of 10,000 people
or more.
• Rural: Basically the countryside
(everywhere outside urban areas).
Rural areas maybe farmland, forest,
desert or savanna depending on
where you are in the world. Rural
areas do contain small settlements
of less than 10,000 people e.g.
hamlets and villages.
 HOME TASK
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=msQb9b064hg

• Worksheet based on above

video link
SETTLEMENT
PATTERN
What Type of Settlement Pattern can you
see?
 Settlement Patterns

Dispersed Linear Nucleated

 Nucleated Linear Dispersed
When all the houses in This is a settlement that When individual buildings
a settlement are built has grown in a line. The are separated by several
very close together, line doesn't have to be hundred meters. They are
individual isolated
often around a central straight, but will buildings and do not form
village green or church. normally follow a road, a single settlement.
a river, the coast or the Dispersed settlement
valley floor. traditionally occured in an
area of adverse physical
conditions where natural
resources are insufficient
to support more than a
few people.
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispearsed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
Nucleated, Linear or Dispersed?

Why?
• RURAL SETTLEMENT: study includes
– Pattern:
• Dispersed-individual houses are widely scattered.
– Ex Australian outback, Sahel region in Africa, recently Dutch polders
• Nucleated- houses & buildings are tightly clustered around a
church, village green or crossroads
– Such nucleated settlements called as Hamlets/Villages, according to
their size/function.
– Factors favouring nucleation
» Joint and cooperative farming
» Defence ex hilltop locations as in Jericho (walled city)
» Shortage of water ex close to springs
» Swampy conditions- settlements in dry locations
» Junctions or crossroads- for communication
» Govt. plans- Ujaama scheme in Tanzania, Kibbutzim in Israel,
communes in China
• Linear-settlement along a geographical feature ex river valley,
transport route
– Form/Shape
– ex linear settlement, houses spread along a road/river
» importance of trade & transport
» or where drainage is poor
• Ex rainforest of Sarawak (Malaysia), longboats.
– Ex Cruciform settlement,
» Intersection of roads

– Village green: dwellings and other buildings clustered around a

small village green.
» Ex: Kraals :S. Africa, where ring villages are formed,
houses.
– Site and situation
• Site: Actual land on which settlement is built
• Situation: or position is the relationship b/n a particular
settlement and its surrounding area.
– These includes
» Availability of water
» Freedom from flooding: but close to flooded areas.
» Level sites to build on
» Timber
» Sunny South facing slopes (N. Hemisphere): as warmer than
North facing slopes for better crop growth.
» Rich soil
» Trade and commerce: close to bridges, confluence sites,
points of navigation.
 Elevated site in an area of otherwise poor natural
Dry point drainage.
site Ex small hills (knolls) or islands.

With a reliable supply of water from springs or

Wet wells in an otherwise dry area.
point site Ex spring line villages at the foot of the chalk and
limestone ridges.
 SETTLEMENT
HIERARCHY-
KEY TERMS
• Settlement hierarchy: is a way
of arranging settlements into
a hierarchy based upon their
population or some other
criteria.
• Hierarchy: Placing things in an
order of importance.
• Services: Facilities that are
offered to people e.g.
supermarket, cinema, school or
train station. Services have a
threshold population, which
helps explain why bigger
settlements have more
services.
SETTLEMENT HIERARCHY- KEY TERMS

Threshold population: is the minimum number of people necessary

before a particular good or service can be provided in an area.

High Order Goods (Comparison): Goods that people buy less frequently.
They tend to be more expensive and people will normally compare
quality and price before purchasing e.g. a TV, car or holiday.

Low Order Goods (Convenience): Goods that people buy every day. They
don't usually cost much money and people would not normally travel far
to buy them e.g. bread and milk.
– Function & hierarchy
• Hierarchy means ‘order’
• Ordered in terms of size
1. Isolated home: at the base are dispersed individual households.
2. Hamlet: very small settlement, consisting of a small number of
houses or farms, with very few services. Population often <100.
3. Village: is much larger in population. Wide range of services
including school, church or chapel, community center and a
small range of shops..
» Baniachong (Bangladesh): world’s largest village, 75 km2
4. Town/cities: offering many more and different types of services.
• low-order and high order services
– Low order services(basic functions) as general store, a small post
office or a pub.
– high order services: specialised ones more common in towns and
cities like hospitals, banks, corporate offices.
• Range of good:
– Low order services have small range.
– High order services have large range.
• Threshold population
– The number of people needed to support a good/service.
– Ex small threshold pop. needed for a small shop (1000) whereas
large threshold pop. for a large departmental store (50000)
• Sphere of influence:
– The area that a settlement serves.
– Ex Hamlet/villages have low spheres of influence,
– larges towns/cities have a large sphere of influence.
• Population size versus number & range of services
– In general as population size increases, number and range of services
also increases
– However, exceptions like tourist destinations, small in size but have
many services and
– Some dormitory (commuter) settlement may be large but offer few
services other than residential one. Here people live, but work and
shop elsewhere.
• Factors affecting the size, growth and function of
settlements
• Extreme environment
– To harsh to provide much food
• Trade and communication
– Cairo, meeting point of African, Asian and European trade routes
– Paris, excellent location on Seine
• Raw material
– S. Africa, gold deposits near Johannesburg, diamonds at Kimberley
and Bloemfontein.
• Functions change overtime
– Spanish costas: earlier fishing villages, later evolved as tourist
destinations.
– Developed world: many rural settlements, now become dormitory
settlements.
– Rural settlements: many became industrial centres, or new science
parks as Silicon Valley in California.
 3D GEOGRAPHY

• https://www.3dgeography.co.uk
/settlement-geography
• (useful link)
• Larger settlements and conurbations
have a much larger sphere of
influence than smaller ones. This
means they attract people from a
wider area because of the facilities
they offer. Cities such as London have
a global sphere of influence, whereas
a small hamlet or village may only
have a sphere of influence of a couple
of kilometres.
• Amount of people living in a
settlement is not always a good way
of determining the hierarchy of a
settlement. Sometimes, the types of
services that are found in a
settlement can determine its
hierarchy.
 Case Study
Settlement and service provision in an area
Learners should know a case study of settlement and service provision in an
area that reflect high, middle and low order settlements.
Introduce location of the chosen settlements. Write the main features of the
chosen case study area including named settlements and place-specific
information.
Describe and explain the settlement pattern and the site of settlements in the
case study region.
Select an example of a high, medium and low order settlement in the area and
for each learner:
• research population data (and change over time to indicate growth)
• identify evidence from the map to suggest the function of each settlement
• research how each settlement has grown over time and the reasons why
• research and use map evidence to describe the service provision in each
settlement (include sphere of influence and threshold populations)
• explain the differences using key terminology.

Use all of the information to place the settlements into a hierarchy and write a
report to explain the settlement and service provision of the chosen area. (I)
 Case Study - Settlement and service provision in an area

• A case study of settlement and service provision in an area that reflects high, middle and
low order settlements.
• Introduce location of the chosen settlements.
• Write the main features of the chosen case study area including named settlements and
place-specific information.
• Describe and explain the settlement pattern and the site of settlements in the case study
region.
• Select an example of a high, medium and low order settlement in the area and write
following -
• research population data (and change over time to indicate growth)
• identify evidence to suggest the function of each settlement (Port, tourist,
Administration, Manufacturing)
• research how each settlement has grown over time and the reasons why
• research and give evidence to describe the service provision in each settlement (include
sphere of influence and threshold populations)
• explain the differences using key terminology.
• Use all of the information to place the settlements into a hierarchy and explain the
settlement and service provision of the chosen area.