Settlement Patterns

 Settlement pattern is how the settlement is laid out.

 For instance, a river, railway or major road would encourage a linear development along this
route to attract trade

 However, linear settlements also arose due to physical limitations such as poor drainage or
the position of a mountain

Dispersed

o Where isolated houses or farms are scattered in fields or along roads rather than
concentrated in one area

o Found in sparsely populated rural areas such as Sahel region of Africa, Australian
outback or the mountainous areas

o Dispersed settlements also occur where the physical geography is extreme - too hot,
wet, cold or dry - which in turn discourages settlement and development

 Linear

o Where there is a physical feature such as a river or a trade and transport route,
settlements group and form a line along its path

 Nucleated

o Form when settlements tightly cluster around a central feature such as a village
green, a crossroad or a church etc.

o Very few buildings are found further out, and these settlements are usually called
hamlets or villages, depending on their size and function

o There are a number of reasons for the development of nucleated settlements such
as:

 Defence

 Trade

 Co-operative community - agriculture, water, work

 Floodplain - safer to group on a hilltop