Patterns of Settlements
Categorising settlements
- A settlement is a place where people live and carry out a range of activities - trade, manufacturing, agriculture etc.
- They can be categorised through their pattern
- However, there are other factors that influence settlements such as their:
- Shape or form
- Site and situation
- Function and hierarchy
- Change and growth - modern-day settlement patterns are changing due to population change, technological developments, changing lifestyles and expanding urban limits (rise of the megacities and urban sprawl)
Pattern
- Settlements come in different shapes and sizes called patterns
- These range from isolated buildings in rural regions to urban megacities of over 10 million people
- Urban towns, cities, conurbations and megacities are usually densely populated over a smaller area
- Rural towns and fringe areas are usually densely populated over a larger area
- Villages and hamlets will usually have a lower population density and smaller settled areas
- The physical geography of an area dictates these patterns
Settlement Patterns
Form or shape?
- Both mean the same when it comes to describing the pattern
- It 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
- Circular shapes grow around a central feature like village greens or lake and are organised, so the middle remains accessible
- A star form occurs when several roads meet, and houses are built along those roads
- T-form settlements arise when one road meets another at a junction
- Y-form settlements develop where two roads meet and houses are built along these routes
- Cruciform shapes occur at cross-roads and houses cluster (nucleate) and spread in all four directions
- Cross-shaped is similar to a cruciform, however, the houses will be linear around the crossroad rather than nucleated
Settlement Patterns
- Dispersed
- Where isolated houses or farms are set in fields or along roads rather than concentrated in one area
- Found in sparsely populated rural areas such as Sahel region of Africa, Australian outback or the mountainous regions of Scotland and Wales
- The break-up of large rural estates led to dispersed settlements in England during the 16th and 17th centuries
- Dispersed settlements also occur where the physical geography is extreme - too hot, wet, cold or dry - which in turn discourages settlement and development
- Linear
- 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
- Form when settlements tightly cluster around a central feature such as a village green, a crossroad or a church etc.
- Very few buildings are found further out, and these settlements are usually called hamlets or villages, depending on their size and function
- 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
Exam Tip
Make sure you can define the terms urban and rural. You might think it is easy, but as settlements change, so does their position in the hierarchy.
- Rural - an area with less than 10,000 people living within its boundaries
- Urban - an area with more than 10,000 people living within its boundaries
This use of a figure helps to keep the definition clearer and it is easier to discuss the types of settlements found within.
- Rural - dispersed, hamlet, village and small market town
- Urban - large towns, cities, conurbations and megacities