SETTLEMENT AND URBAN

GROWTH
The location and growth of a settlement depends on its site and situation

What does site mean? It is the place where people decide to

locate a settlement

Then, the growth of a settlement depends on its location in relation with

natural resources and other settlements and human factors

Most of the settlements were created long time ago. They considered
certain location factors
LOCATION FACTORS
Be near a reliable supply of water (river or lakes) but be
away from marshy places in order to avoid floods

Locate a settlement in a defensive position (like at the

top of a hill)

Having materials for building their homes and develop

their economic activities

Have a supply of food and fuel for cooking and heating.

At the beginning, the main fuel was wood. Then, it was coal

Have a shelter from bad weather (like locating a settlement in a

valley)

Have access to other places

However, it was unlikely to have all those location factors at the same
time
Settlements have an evolution in its size, shape and the importance of
the location factors

Most of the times that evolution depends upon human factors, because
natural factors are less important nowadays

But the location factors are still visible.

We can analyze them either visiting the settlement or studying an OS
map
An Ordnance Survey (OS) map is a map made by the government which
has a lot of human and physical information
FUNCTIONS OF A SETTLEMENT

The term function describes what a settlement (a city, a town or a

village) did, or still does. Nowadays, settlements ususally have more
than one function.

ADMINISTRATIVE:
Centre from which the surrounding area can be controlled (capital, city,
county town)
Examples:
Madrid (Spain)
Valladolid (Castilla y León)
Burgos (Province of Burgos)
DEFENSIVE
Protecting itself or the sorrounding area
More common in the previous centuries:
Example:
Ávila
Gibraltar
MINING
Extracting or using a local resource (coal or iron)
Settlements in Asturias, the north of Palencia and León

INDUSTRIAL
Where raw materials are processed (steel) or processed goods are
assembled (cars)
Examples:
Palencia (Fasa Renault)
Bilbao
TOURIST RESORT
Contains amenities that attract visitors (cultural sites, coasts, theme
parks)
Benidorm
Barcelona
Segovia
EDUCATIONAL
When an university is the main function of the city
Other times, an educational settlement has a great historic and artistic
heritage
Examples:
Salamanca
Cambridge
Oxford

RELIGIOUS
Centre of religious buildings or place of worship
Examples:
The Vatican
Santiago de Compostela
Silos
RESIDENTIAL
Where many people live but very few actually work. They are
sometimes suburbanised villages.
Examples:
Leganés (Madrid)
Getafe (Madrid)
Sabadel (Barcelona)

PORT
Where goods and people can be moved by water (river, lake or
sea)
Examples:
Vigo
Cádiz
Hamburg
Rotterdam
MARKET TOWN
Collection and distribution centre for farm produce from
the surrounding area.
More common in the previous centuries
Medina del Campo

ROUTE CENTRE
Where several routes meet
(roads or rails)
Miranda de Ebro
Like the size, the shape and the importance of the location
factors change throughout history, the function of a settlement
also change.

Most settlements, especially those that are larger, tend to be multi-

functional.
They have several functions even if one or two tend to predominate

For example: DURHAM, UK

-At the beginning it was a defensive settlement
-Then, it was also a religious centre due to its cathedral, an educational
centre due to its university and a market town. It was also an
adminsitrative centre because it is the capital of a county
-Those functions are still important for this city
- Nowadays, Durham has other functions because it is a residential
centre as well as a route and tourist centre
 WHAT IS THE SETTLEMENT
HIERARCHY?
Cities are organised according to a hierarchy.

This hierarchy puts in order the cities of a

country depending on:
Population size
Distance apart
Range and number of services

Population size: The larger the settlement the fewer there will be of
those settlements

Distant apart: The larger the settlement the further it will be from other
large settlements

Range and number of services: The larger the settlement the more
services it will be provide
As you move up the hierarchy, the size of the settlement and
the distance between similar sized settlements increases. As
you can see from the diagram, there are more cities than
conurbations, more towns than cities and more villages than
towns.

The number of services that a settlement provides increases

with settlement size.
 SERVICES
Government offices, several universities,
CONURBATIONS main line railway stations, international
airport, large and specialist hospitals,
national events

County hall, cathedral, luxury hotel,

CITIES university, many cinemas, threatres,
hospitals, main railway station, several
football teams
Small hospital, large restaurants, hotels,
LARGE TOWNS cinema and small theatre, several secondary
schools, large bus and railway stations, large
football team
Town hall, doctor, several churches, several
SMALL TOWNS public houses, cafés and restaurants, small
secondary school, railway station, bus
station, football team
Village hall, church, public house, small
VILLAGES primary school

Public telephone
HAMLETS

ALL PLACES IN THE HIERARCHY HAVE ALL SERVICES OF THE SETTLEMENTS BELOW THEM
 THE URBAN MODELS
Each city or town has a different shape due to:
• Its evolution
• Its location factors
• Its history
• Its function

But many cities and towns shared a common pattern

and we can set models.

In cities from the United Kingdom and other Occidental

countries, one of the most common model was the
“Burguess model” since the Industrial Revolution.
Even though, this model has changed since those times
•Geographers have put models of land use to show the organization
of a 'typical' city is. One of the most famous of these is the Burgess or
concentric zone model.
•This model is based on the idea that land values are highest in the
centre of a town or city, which is called the CBD. This is because
competition is higher in the central part of a settlement.
• Then, there is a ring where are located the factories
•The second ring is the place where the workers used to live. The
second and the third ring are called the “Inner City”
•The third ring is the place where the middle class used to live. Their
houses were more expensive than the houses from the working class
•Finally, there is a last ring where the high class used to live far from
the factories and the low class, but linked to the CBD by train or
roads.
 However, there are limits to the Burgess model:
The model is now quite old and was developed before the advent of mass
car ownership.
New working and housing trends have emerged since the model was
developed. Many people now choose to live and work outside the city on
the urban fringe - a phenomenon that is not reflected in the Burgess
model.
Some areas of the cities, like the industrial ones, have been demolished in
the last decades
Every city is different. There is no such thing as a typical city.

Another urban model is the Hoyt model.

This is based on the circles on the
Burgess model, but adds sectors of
similar land uses concentrated in parts
of the city. Notice how some zones, like
the factories, radiate out from the CBD.
This is probably following the line of a
main road or a railway.

Hoyt model
C.B.D. It is the Central Business District
It has offices, administrative services and
shops
It also includes the old city with its monuments
Transitional zone (Inner City)
Factories
Low class residential (Inner City)

The houses of the workers. They were the

cheapest ones
Medium class residential
High class residential. They are the most expensive
houses
 CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
LOCATION IN THE CITY CENTRE

OFFICES, SHOPS, ADMINISTRATIVE

FUNCTION BUILDINGS AND SOME TOURISTIC PLACES

IT IS LINKED TO THE REST OF THE CITY BY

ACCESSIBILITY THE MAIN ROADS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT
LIKE BUSES AND UNDERGROUND

THEY ARE THE HIGHEST OF THE CITY

LAND VALUES
BECAUSE THE SPACE IS LIMITED AND THERE
IS A BIG COMPETITION TO BUILD IN THIS
ZONE OR TO BUY BUILDINGS THERE.
C.B.D.
LOCATION THE INNER CITY
NEXT TO THE CBD
IT WAS LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF THE CITY IN THE XIX CENTURY.
HOWEVER, NOWADAYS IT IS LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY
AND FOR THAT REASON THIS PLACE IS CALLED “INNER CITY”
 FUNCTION

FACTORIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS FOR THE WORKERS.

FACTORIES NEEDED WORKERS AND THOSE PEOPLE NEEDED

PLACES TO LIVE  NEIGHBOURHOODS OF A HIGH DENSITY OF
HOUSES WERE BUILT INSIDE OF A GRID-IRON PATTERN

THERE WERE FEW SHOPS FOR THE WORKERS AND THEY DID
NOT HAVE OPEN SPACES LIKE PARKS OR SQUARES

HOWEVER, NOWADAYS THE FEATURES OF INNER CITY HAVE

CHANGED DUE TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ECONOMIC
MODEL
PROBLEMS IN THE INNER CITY FOR THE WORKERS

•Highdensity of buildings and lack of open

spaces (parks and squares)

• Old lower-cost housing from the nineteenth

• Slum housing to save space

•When industries declined, unemployment

increased and there were many social problems

• Lack of shopping facilities and public services

•High levels of air pollution from traffic and

factories
ACCESSIBILITY

IT WAS LINKED BY TRAIN TO MINES OR OTHER FACTORIES

IN THE COUNTRY.
THE PRODUCTS FROM FACTORIES WERE CARRIED TO THE
SHOPS OF THE CITY CENTRE BY ROADS
WORKERS DID NOT LEAVE THIS ZONE AND THEY WENT TO
THE FACTORIES BY FOOT

LAND VALUES

THEY WERE VERY LOW BECAUSE THERE WERE A LOT OF SPACE

COMPANIES USUALLY BUILT HOUSES FOR THE WORKERS, SO
THEY WANTED TO SAVE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE.
THAT IS THE REASON THAT THOSE NEIGHBOURHOODS WERE
TOTALLY OVERCROWDED AND THE QUALITY OF THE HOUSES
WAS VERY POOR
NOWADAYS

MOST OF THE OLD INNER HOUSES AND FACTORIES HAVE BEEN

DEMOLISHED
GOVERNMENTS HAVE BUILT SOCIAL FLATS WHERE MANY
PEOPLE LIVE NOWADAYS WITH MORE FACILITIES.
THEY CHANGED THE HOUSES FOR THE FLATS DUE TO THE
INCREASED OF THE POPULATION

ANYWAY, THERE ARE MANY DANGEROUS NEIGHBOURHOODS IN

THESE PLACES DUE TO LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES (JOBS AND
SERVICES) FOR THE PEOPLE

THERE ARE STILL SOME

FACTORIES IN THE INNER
CITY. HOWEVER, MOST OT
THEM ARE EMPTY BECAUSE
THEY HAVE BEEN CLOSED
However, some features from the Burguess model are still visible.
But obviously, there have been many changes
 THE SUBURBS
The suburbs are the neighbourhoods which are next to the inner city

According to the Burgess model, they corresponded with the middle

class zone
THE SUBURBS = MEDIUM COST HOUSING =
MEDIUM CLASS HOUSING
AS MEDIUM CLASS INCREASED – DUE
TO THE CHANGE OF THE ECONOMY –
THE SIZE OF THE CITY GREW

NEW NEIGHBOURHOODS WITH MORE

FACILITIES, PUBLIC SERVICES AND
OPEN SPACES WERE BUILT.

THE QUALITY OF THE HOUSES WAS

ALSO HIGHER

EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE

THE VALUE OF THE LAND WAS LOWER
Suburbs have not got a bad connotation. On the contrary, they had
better standards of living than the inner city neighbourhoods

Since the end of the First World War, the British population increased
and the use of cars and the underground was more popular.
As a result, cities expanded and new houses were built in the former
middle class zone
The value of the land in that place was lower, so new neighbourhoods
had more space

That means...

More space for Gardens and garage Wider streets and

each house for houses open spaces (parks)

Shops and public

services located in
each neighbourhood

Better comunications to
the CBD by car or using
the underground
Even though, there is a difference between the neighbourhoods from
the 1930s and the those new neighbourhoods built since the end of the
Second World War

The first ones had private houses which were bigger and they were
mainly semi-detached houses

The second ones were smaller, they were not semi-detached and most
of them had shops in the first floor
THE RURAL-URBAN FRINGE
where rural and urban land uses intermix
It is located at the edge of the city
Rural-Urban fringe means that it is a place between the city and the
countryside. It is common in the UK, but it is also popular in other
European countries

According to the Burgess model, it corresponded with the high class

residential or the last ring
 However, there are two types of housing in this area

PRIVATE ESTATES OUTER CITY COUNCIL ESTATES

They are those houses from the

They are the social flats built
high class according to the
by the government due to the
Burguess model.
increase of the population
They are the oldest in this area during the 1960
 PRIVATE ESTATES
• Low density and high-quality housing
• Most houses are large and detached with
spacious gardens and often a double
garage
• Modern amenities: Central heating,
double-glazing and deluxe bathrooms and
kitchens
• The winding roads and numerous culs-de-
sac are usually wide, tree-lined and
relatively traffic free
OUTER CITY COUNCIL ESTATES
• High density and average-quality housing
• Created during the 1960’s and the 1970’s
as local councils cleared the worst inner
city areas and re-located residents on
large edge-of-city estates
• Housing was often in high-rise tower
blocks or low-rise flats
• Most homes were small and lacked
gardens and garages, but had modern
amenities such as a bathroom and kitchen
Both types of housing had open spaces because the value of the land –
far from the CBD – is cheap.

However, private states and outer city council estates are separated by
parks, lakes, motorways or railways, shopping centres or new factories
 Why did governments decide to set the outer city council
states in the rural-urban fringe?

1. During the 1960s, British authorities cleared the worst inner city areas

2.People from those places – and immigrants who came in those years -
needed a new place to live

3.Authorities decided to build council states (viviendas de

protección oficial) for those people in cheap places

4. New housing were high flates with small homes as they did in the inner city
In the last decades, the rural-urban fringe has been used to build
new factories, shopping centres, hotels, airports and bussines
parks due to the low land value and the huge space available