Hierarchy, Complexities and Centralities of

Settlements
 ECONOMICS

EKISTICS SOCIAL
CULTURAL
DISCIPLINES SCIENCES

- Science of human settlements, EKISTICS

Greek term meaning “settling TECHNICAL POLICAL SCIENCE

down” DISCIPLINES &
ADMINISTRATION

- All other science of human settlements conditioned by

men and influenced by economic, social, political,
administrative and technical science as well as
disciplined related to the arts.
Functions of a Settlement
— The function of a settlement is its purpose -
the main ‘work’ that it does e.g. religious,
industrial, educational
— Small settlements may have one specific
types of employment which dominates, for
example, mining towns.
— However, large cities and towns often have
several employment types and are therefore
described as multifunctional.
— Many settlements have changed their
function over time.
Settlement Hierarchy
 Settlement Hierarchy
— Settlements within an area vary greatly in physical
size, population and the number of services that they
provide. When studying settlements within an area we
can look at them in terms of a settlement hierarchy.
What is a settlement hierarchy?

It’s a way of ranking settlements in order of

their size and importance
Settlement Hierarchy
A settlement hierarchy is a way of arranging
settlements into a hierarchy based upon their
population or some other criteria.

q The greater the population in a settlement, the

larger geographic area, the higher the status and
the greater the availability of services.
q Position in a settlement hierarchy can also
depend on the sphere of influence.
Settlement Hierarchies
A settlement hierarchy is when settlements are put
into an order based upon their size or the services that
they provide for people (see hierarchy diagram below).
As you go up the hierarchy there is an increase in the
size of the settlement, population and number of
services; the distance between these settlement types
also increases. The number of settlements of each type
however decreases as you move up the hierarchy.
Settlement Hierarchy
Settlement Hierarchy
Example of a Settlement
Hierarchy
— Ecumenopolis - the entire area of Earth that is
taken up by human settlements. As of the year
2009, the United Nations estimated that for the
first time more than 50% of the world's populations
lived in cities, so the total population of this area
would be about 3,400,000,000 people as of 2010.
— Megalopolis - a group of conurbations, consisting
of more than ten million people each.
Example of a Settlement
Hierarchy
— Conurbation- a group of large cities and their
suburbs, consisting of three to ten million people.
— Metropolis - a large city and its suburbs consisting
of multiple cities and towns. The population is
usually one to three million.
— Large City - a city with a large population and many
services. The population is <1 million people but
over 300,000 people.
— City - a city would have abundant services, but not
as many as a large city. The population of a city is
over 100,000 people up to 300,000.
Example of a Settlement
Hierarchy
— Large town - a large town has a population of 20,000
to 100,000.
— Town- a town has a population of 1,000 to 20,000.
— Village - a village generally does not have many
services, possibly only a small corner shop or post
office. A village has a population of 100 to 1,000.
— Hamlet - a hamlet has a tiny population (<100) and
very few (if any) services, and few buildings.
— Isolated dwelling - an isolated dwelling would only
have 1 or 2 buildings or families in it. It would have
negligible services, if any.
— Hierarchy categorizes centers according to their
importance in terms of the functions that they
provide. Functional importance is reflected in the
range and amount of services and facilities.
— Ideally, planners wish to provide sufficient facilities for
the majority of the population on the grounds of
efficiency and equality of access. Over-supply is a
waste of financial and limited skilled manpower
resources.
— Hence, spatial integration is usually expressed in a
Spatial Framework Plan.
The Scalogram Method
— ( Scalogram or Guttman Scaling ) ranks cities and
municipalities in a region by their functional complexity
based on the number and types of functions that are
located within them.
— It provides a visual description of the settlement and
institutional hierarchy that is easy to read and useful as
reference in analyzing numerous issues for planning.
— Scalogram assessment is a simplified method of ranking
the present hierarchy of urban centers in the state.
— This technique is especially useful in cases where detailed
data concerning the functional characteristics of
settlements are largely lacking and if limited time or
money are available to gather them.
Uses of the Scalogram
The uses of the Scalogram are to:
— categorise settlements into levels of functional complexity,
— determine the types and diversity of services and facilities,
— indicate the sequence in which settlements tend to
accumulate functions,
— show the degree of access that people have to services and
facilities, and
— assist in deciding appropriate investment for settlements
on a hierarchical basis.
— Scalogram is not a complete insight to spatial systems. It is
used to indicate patterns only.
Concept of Centrality
— Essentially, centrality is a concept of relative
importance – importance in terms of functions offered
in a place vis-à-vis other places (and their functions) in
a planning region.
Measure of Centrality of a Place
Calculating for Weights of Functions
Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total

A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10
B 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8
C 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
D 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7
E 1 1 1 1 1 5
F 1 1 1 1 4
G 1 1 1 3
H 1 1 1 3
Total Number 8 8 8 6 5 4 2 2 2 1 46
of Functions
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Centrality

Weights 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 25 50 50 50 100

Calculating for Centrality Indices
Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Centrality
Index
A 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 25 50 50 50 100 349.1

B 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 25 50 50 199.1

C 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 25 99.1

D 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 25 50 149.1

E 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 20 74.1

F 12.5 12.5 12.5 16.6 54.1

G 12.5 12.5 12.5 37.5

H 12.5 12.5 12.5 37.5
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 1,000
Centrality
The End