RURAL AND URBAN SETTLEMENTS

There are many different types of settlements, but these can roughly be divided into rural and
urban settlements.

Rural Settlements: Settlements that are found in the countryside (rural areas) and contain
less than 10,000 residents. Rural areas have a small number of buildings with a strong
agricultural function or a dormitory function. (workers staying in a village but working in a
nearby town –they commute). Population density is low, and the community is close, it offers
a small number of services.

Urban Settlements: Settlements that contain more than 10 000 residents in developed
countries. Urban areas in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) tend to have
smaller populations as compared to those found in More Economically Developed Countries
(MEDCs). Urban refers to towns and cities. It is a continuous built up area with industry and
commerce, has a high population density. The residents are more of acquaintances rather than
friends and provides many services.
Settlements can either be temporary or permanent. Temporary settlements include places
such as refugee camps. Some temporary settlements have become permanent over time such
as the Rochina, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Characteristics of Rural and Urban Settlements

Rural settlement Urban settlement
1.Settlement patterns in rural areas are linear 1. Mainly linear along roads
nucleated and dispersed
2. Mainly influenced by cost of land economic
2. Pattern is largely influenced by the physical reasons as well as physical planning laws.
geography of the area local culture /traditions
and needs of farmers. These settlements are 3.These types of settlement are nodal in
chiefly concerned with primary activities such character and have secondary and tertiary
as agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry etc activities.

3. Most of the people of rural settlements are
engaged in agricultural work.
4. The major function of rural settlement is
agriculture and each settlement specialises in
various activities eg fishing.eg in MEDCs
Facilities available in the villages of developed
countries may be considered rare in villages of
developing and less developed countries)
5. Population density is small and the
settlement size is small.
4. The chief occupation of the people of urban
areas is non-agricultural i.e. industry, trade and
services.
5. The major functions of an urban area are
trade and commerce, transport and
communication, mining and manufacturing
defence, administration, cultural and
recreational activities.
6. Population density is high and the settlement
size is large.
SETTLEMENT FUNCTIONS

Settlement function describes the main activity of the settlement, the jobs of the people
working there for example religious, industrial, educational. Normally larger settlements will
have more functions than smaller settlements. Most settlements now are multi-functional,
which means that they perform a range of different functions, however some may be more
important than others to a particular settlement. For instance, a tourist town will perform all
sorts of functions, but its main ones are concentrated towards the tourists.eg Victoria Falls.

Settlement functions can be grouped into several headings, such as residential, recreational,
retail, port, administrative, entertainment, cultural, financial, and industrial.

• ACTIVITY
1. Draw the following table

Settlement function Description Distinguishing Example

features
Residential
Recreational
Retail
Port
Administrative
Entertainment
Cultural
Financial
Industrial

2. For each function in the table, describe the distinguishing features shown in the
photographs below.
3.Give examples of each

Residential
Recreational

Retail
Port

• Read: Complete Geo pg 57: Ports

Administrative

Sydney skyline

Entertainment
Cultural

Financial

Industrial
Many settlements around the world have found that their functions have had to change over
time. One such example is that of small farming villages finding that their residents are
moving out to find jobs in the cities.

This leaves the village empty, apart from the older population. The village then may become
a retirement centre, or commuters may move in and it could become a commuter village.
Two good examples of the changing functions of a settlement can be seen in Benidorm
(Spain) and the South Wales mining towns.

Settlement Hierarchy

A hierarchy is a ranking of items. So, a settlement hierarchy is a ranking of settlements. If

we group and classify several settlements according to their size and shape, the result is
settlement hierarchy - a way of arranging settlements. A settlement`s place in the hierarchy
depends on the size of the population, the range and number of services and the sphere of
influence or area served by the settlement. This is how far people will travel to use
the services in the settlement, if people travel further the town becomes more important and
ranks higher in settlement hierarchy.

As you move up the hierarchy, the size of the settlement and the distance between similar
sized settlements increases. The diagram below shows that 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.
Hierarchy of Settlements
.

1. 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 above, there are more cities
than conurbations, more towns than cities and more villages than towns.
2. The number of services that a settlement provides increases with settlement size.
3. The number of services that a settlement provides increases with settlement size.
4. Small settlements will only provide low-order services such as a post offices, doctors and
newsagents. Large towns, cities and conurbations will provide low and high-order
services such as leisure centres, chain stores and hospitals.
5. 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.
6. Services such as department stores selling high order goods have a higher threshold than
those selling low order goods such as newsagents. This means they need a higher number of
people to support them and make them profitable, therefore they will only be found in larger
settlements. It also means that there are fewer big department stores than small newsagents.
7. The range of a service or product is the maximum distance people are prepared to travel to
purchase it. The range of a newspaper is much lower than an item of furniture for example.
1. The diagram-Settlement hierarchy (refer to both diagrams and note the slight
variations)

Isolated Place: A look at the levels of a settlement hierarchy starts with a base. The
base of this chart is the isolated place, a settlement with only a few households.
Isolated places require very little in the way of services and may have none at all.

Hamlet: Above that is a slightly larger and slightly less common settlement called
a hamlet. Hamlets generally have populations of 100 people or less and might have a
few very basic services.

Village: A hamlet becomes a village if more people are added. Villages have a few
hundred people, making them large enough to contain basic services like post offices,
gas stations, or churches.

Small Town & Large Town: The next size of settlement is the small town, which
has a population of between 1,000 and 20,000 people. Small towns have enough basic
services that people don't have to always leave this settlement in order to fulfil their
basic needs. This means that basic stores, grocers, and restaurants are available. When
a town's population grows to be over 20,000 people, it can become a large town and
attract more varieties of these services.
Services are things such as retailers (shops), professionals (doctors, lawyers etc),
entertainment, government functions and leisure. The theory goes that the larger a settlement
is, and therefore the higher it is on the urban hierarchy, the more services and functions it will
have. In general in the UK, this is the case. London is the settlement at the top of the urban
hierarchy, and it has the greatest numbers of services and functions of any settlement in the
country. For instance, it has the major international airports, it is the seat of national
government, it has the widest range of shops, including very specialist ones, and it has the
most renowned professional services. This is because its population is large enough to
support all of the services. A small village may on the other hand only have the population to
support a pub, post office, village store and perhaps a small garage.

Small settlements will only provide low-order services such as a post offices, doctors and
newsagents. Large towns, cities and conurbations will provide low and high-order
services such as leisure centres, chain stores and hospitals.

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.

Services such as department stores selling high order goods have a higher threshold than
those selling low order goods such as newsagents. This means they need a higher number of
people to support them and make them profitable, therefore they will only be found in larger
settlements. It also means that there are fewer big department stores than small newsagents.
In order to be profitable, a shop or service will require a minimum number of potential
customers, this is known as its threshold population.

The range of a service or product is the maximum distance people are prepared to travel
to purchase it. The range of a newspaper is much lower than an item of furniture for example.