Site and Situation

The study of settlement patterns is one of the most important aspects of urban geography. Settlements can range in size from a
small village with a few hundred residents to a metropolitan city of over one million people. Geographers often study the reasons
behind why such cities develop where they do and what factors lead to their becoming a large city over time or remaining as a
small village.

Some of the reasons behind these patterns are thought of in terms of the area's site and its situation - two of the most important
concepts in the study of urban geography.

Site

The 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.

Historically, these factors led to the development of major cities worldwide. New York City, for example, is located where it is
because of several site factors. As people arrived in North America from Europe, they began to settle in this area because it was a
coastal location with a natural harbor. There was also an abundance of fresh water in the nearby Hudson River and small creeks
as well as raw materials for building supplies. In addition, the nearby Appalachian and Catskill Mountains provided a barrier to
movement inland.

The site of an area can also create challenges for its population and the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan is a good example of
this. Located within the world's highest mountain range, the terrain of the country is extremely rugged and hard to get around.
This, combined with the incredibly harsh climate in many areas of the country has made much of the population settle along
rivers in the highlands just south of the Himalayas. In addition, only 2% of the land in the nation is arable (with much of it
located in the highlands) making living in the country highly challenging.

Situation

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.

Though its site has made living in the nation challenging, Bhutan's situation has allowed it to maintain its policies of isolation as
well as its own highly separated and traditionally religious culture.

Because of its remote location in the Himalayas getting into the country is challenging and historically this has been beneficial
because the mountains have been a form of protection. As such, the heartland of the nation has never been invaded. In addition,
Bhutan now controls many of the most strategic mountain passes in the Himalayas including the only ones into and out of its
territory, leading to its title as the "Mountain Fortress of the Gods."

Like an area's site however, its situation can also cause problems. For example Canada's Eastern Provinces of New Brunswick,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island are some of that country's most economically downtrodden
areas due in large part to their situations. These areas are isolated from the rest of Canada making manufacturing and the little
agriculture possible too expensive. In addition, there are very few close natural resources (many are off the coast and due to
maritime laws the government of Canada itself controls the resources) and many of the traditional fishing economies they did
have are now crashing along with the fish populations.

The Importance of Site and Situation in Today's Cities

As shown in the examples of New York City, Bhutan, and Canada's East coast, an area's site and situation play a significant role
in its development both within its own boundaries and on a world stage. This has occurred throughout history and is part of the
reason why places like London, Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles were able to grow into the prosperous cities that they
are today.

As nations around the world continue to develop, their sites and situations will play a large role in whether or not they will be
successful and though today's ease of transportation and new technologies such as the Internet are bringing nations closer
together, the physical landscape of an area as well as its location in relation to its desired market will still play a large role in
whether or not such areas will grow to become the next great world city.
Site and Situation

The location and growth of an settlement depended upon its site and situation. The site was the actual place where people decided to locate their
settlement. The growth of that settlement then depended upon itssituation in relation to accessibility and availability of natural resources.

Site Factors

• reliable water supply

• away from flood risks

• defence

• building materials (stone or wood)

• fertile land

• shelterered from winds

• fuel supply (wood)

• south-facing slope (aspect)

• flat land, easy to build on

• natural harbour

Situation Factors

• route centre

• gap town

• lowest bridging point on a river

• port

• minerals for export

Settlement Patterns

Nucleated or clustered settlements often form at crossroads or route centres.

Dispersed settlements have no obvious centre and are often hamlets spread over fertile
farmland.

Linear settlements: settlements grow along a road (e.g. in a narrow valley) or along the
coast. Ribbon development is when housing grows out from a town along a main road.

Barcelona's Site and Situation

Site Situation

 Hill for defence  Port

 Reliable water supply for  Route Centre
drinking and power  Limestone quarries
 Fertile farmland  Close to wealthy NW
 Flat land for building European markets
 Sheltered by hills to the
north
 South-facing slope
 Natural harbour
 Construction material
 Bridging point

Physical and Economic Site Factors

Physical Economic
 Water supply  Route centre
 Dry-point sites  Bridging point
 Aspect  River confluence
 Shelter  Gap in hills
 Defence  Port
 Meander bend  Resources e.g. coal
 Flat land
 Natural harbour
What is a settlement?

A settlement is a place where people live. A settlement could be anything from an isolated farmhouse to a mega
city (settlement with over 10 million people).

Settlements can either be temporary or permanent. Temporary settlements include things such as refugee camps.
Some temporary settlements have become permanent over time such as the Rochina, the largest favela in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.

The reason why a settlement developed in the first place is said to be its function. For example the function of
Liverpool was as a port.

What do we mean by site and situation of a settlement?

The site and situation of a settlement are very different things. The site of a settlement is the land upon which it was
built. There are a range of factors that can determine the site of a settlement. These are:

 wet point site - these are sites close to a supply of water

 dry point site - these are sites that avoided the risk of flooding
 defensive site - these were sites that were on high ground and allowed the inhabitants to see
enemies from a distance
 aspect - many settlements in the northern hemisphere are located on south facing sides of
valleys where it is sunny
 shelter - away from rain and prevailing winds
 trading point - often settlements developed where natural training points meet such as along
rivers or natural route ways
 resources - many settlements developed close to where natural resources could be found.

The situation of a settlement is its location in relation to surrounding human and physical features. We
usually describe the situation when we are telling someone where a settlement is.

What are the functions of a settlement?

Most settlements in MEDCs have multi-functions. This includes education, retail and industry.
However, when settlements first formed they often had one main function. These functions included:

 port
 market town
 resort

What is a settlement hierarchy?

We can catagorise settlements according to their size and shape. The result is a settlement hierarchy.
As you move up the settlement hierarchy the size of the settlement increases, as does the population
and the range of services available. Smaller settlements tend to provide only low order services such as
a post office and newsagents. Whereas, larger settlements have more high order services such as
leisure centers and chain stores. As the result of this the larger the settlement, the greater the range of
services and therefore the market area or sphere of influence. This is the market area that a settlement
services (the distance people will travel to use services).

High order services usually have a high threshold. This means they need a higher number of people to use the
service in order to remain profitable. This means high order service such as department stores need a greater
number of customers than a low order service such as a newsagent. This is why there are so few department stores
in villages!

Rural settlement
We must ask ourselves what factors cause farms to be isolated and spread apart - or why
they are nucleated and close to one another. There are three major aspects that result in
different farming patterns:

 physical
 social and cultural
 economic

Factors resulting in a nucleated or dispersed settlement

Nucleated Dispersed
Physical

a) Relief Gentle slopes and plains Mountainous and hilly Abundant

b) Water Scarce settlements, ie wet point water therefore people can settle
settlement oasis anywhere Infertile soil and poor
c) Soil Fertile soil therefore farmers cluster pastures, ie stock farmers

Social and
cultural

a) Safety Peaceful times - farmers disperse

Fortified villages in times of war Capitalism - free market system
Communism and socialism, ie Sub-division of inherited land,
b) Political
commune in China breakdown of tradition
Sense of belonging and a desire to
c) Tradition
maintain villages and united family
and religion
Economic

a) Land Private ownership, loose pieces of

Communal, collective utilisation;
ownership land.
hired workers Collective farming, ie Extensive stock farming Individual
b) Agricultural
entire community is concentrated in a farmer on his own land
centrally located village

Activity
Rural settlement

Dispersed rural settlements

Advantages - economic

 farmer lives on his or her own farm

 farmer decides how to manage the farm and makes his or her own decisions
 lives on a single holding and makes maximum use of machinery
 greater profit

Disadvantages - social

 living in isolation, therefore there is little social contact

 safety of farmer threatened because of isolation
 farmer has to travel great distances for basic commodities
 living in isolation may lead to boredom, however TV, radio, alarms have
minimised the fact that farms do not have access to security and communication
Nucleated rural settlements

Advantages - social

 more socialisation, therefore no boredom

 farmers can share ideas
 travelling for trade purposes is much easier
 lives in safety
 easy access to basic commodities

Disadvantages - economic

 farmlands are scattered and small

 less scope for individual ideas
 wastes time walking to the fields
 little mechanisation
 less scope for entrepreneurial profits

The farmers living in nucleated villages are often referred to as tenant

farmers.
This is a farmer who does not own his land but lives on and works the land,
paying rent.

In short

Rural settlement

Rural settlements are classified according to:

Function: single functional

Activities: primary activities
Size: isolated farmstead, hamlet,
village
Pattern: dispersed (single farmstead)
nucleated (cluster of farms)

Physical factors influencing a settlement:

Availability of If settlement is in a water shortage area, (eg in a

drinking water desert) it will tend to develop around the water source
(eg oasis). This is known as a wet point settlement.
 Aspect south-facing slopes are preferable
Altitude high-lying areas are best avoided
Arable land essential for farming
Pasture good grazing for animals
Rainfall adequate rain and moderate temperatures

What results in a nucleated or dispersed pattern?

Nucleated Dispersed
Physical Gentle slopes Hilly
Little water Lots of water
Fertile soil Infertile soil
Social Times of war Peaceful times
Communism Capitalism
Tradition No traditions
Economic Communal Private ownership
Intensive farming Extensive farming

Farmers leaving their farms is called rural depopulation.

Push
Pull
lack of money
better jobs
fewer jobs
social services
increased mechanisation
better education
farm consolidation
more money
natural disaster

Consequences of the moves

Large farmers bought the smaller farms so production increased; however
the countryside started collapsing. Schools and shops closed, and there
was reduced spending.

Rural settlement
Definition
A settlement is any form of habitation from a single house to a city.

Rural settlements can be classified in terms of the following categories.

Classification of rural settlements

Function - what 1. Single functional: concentrate on one activity
activity occurs? 2. Primary activities, ie farming, fishing and mining

Size - how big 1. Isolated farmstead: separate farm with outbuildings

or small is the 2. Hamlet: small cluster of houses and farms, with few
settlement? services
3. Village: dense grouping of houses and farms with a range
of services
4. Small market town

Pattern - how 1. Dispersed (isolated) individual farms lie apart from

are the one another
settlements
distributed? Dispersed or isolated

2. Nucleated or clustered: dense grouping of buildings

with streets

Nucleated or clustered

3. Linear pattern: farms occur along a river, road, canal

or railway line

Rural settlements
We can therefore conclude this unit by defining a rural settlement. It is a
settlement that is single functional, involved in primary activities and can
either be dispersed, nucleated or linear.

Source:- Internet