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Summary Settlements notes, geography grade 12
Settlements notes, geography grade 12
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GEOGRAPHYTOPIC 3
RURAL AND URBAN SETTLEMENTS
Background
Settlements vary in size, site, structure and function. The location and growth of settlements depend on
several site and situation factors, which can be illustrated on a topographic or ortophoto map.
‘Function’ describes the main purpose and activity/ies of a settlement, which can change over time.
Settlements can be placed in order in a hierachy based on their size and the services they provide.
Land use and functional zone patterns differ in a city.
The main characteristics of the CBD are the presence of shops and offices. Issue as a result of urbanisation
cause inner-city decline in the MEDC’s and informal settlements in the LEDC’s.
The poorest people in a city in a developing country have to live under considerable hardships in informal
settlements.
, UNIT 1
STUDY OF SETTLEMENTS
Key terms
• Settlement : a grouping of people, buildings, communication networks and activities that function as
a single unified system on a daily basis.
• Site : landform on which a settlement is built; the exact piece of ground which is occupied by a
settlement and the physical nature of that piece of ground.
• Situation : how a settlement is placed in relation to nearby landforms, such as hills and rivers, and
landuses, such as roads, industries and other settlements.
• Rural settlements : countryside, where most people living there are involved in primary activities
such as mining, farming, fishing and forestry.
• Urban settlements : towns and citites; large settlements where people are involved in manufacturing
goods and services.
• Settlement classification : the ordering of settlements according to variables like population size or
physical area.
• Size : level of the functions or services offered in a settlement, ( also the hierachy of a settlement)
• Complexity : the purpose or funtion of building in a settlement
• Pattern : the physical distribution of settlements within a given area
• Function : the main purpose of a settlement
,1. The concept of settlements
- Settlements began thousands of years ago when nomadic (people roaming from place to place
looking for pasturage) learned how to cultivate crops.
- A settlement is a place where people live. It is a unit or organized group of people making a living
out of their surrounding environment. These units vary in size, complexity, stage of development and
have a wide range of purposes. They contain buildings and infrastructure around which specific
activities occur.
- A settlement can be defined as a group of people who live, work and interact together in a cluster of
building structures interlinked by communication.
1.1 The nature of settlements
- A settlement may be a small single house in a remote (far away) area or a large mega city.
- It can be permanent or temporary, for example a refugee camp(area housing people taking shelter
away from their country as a result of war, persecution or natural disaster).
- A temporary settlement can however become permanent over time.
- Settlements share similar characteristics.
2. Site and situation
2.1 Site
• Site is the land on which a settlement is built.
• Early settlers searched for a site with water supply, fuel, farming land, shelter and defence.
The ideal sites had the tended to be :
- Flat / gently sloping
- Well drained and free from risk of floods
- Near a permanent water supply
- Sheltered from strong winds
- Near steep sided hills
, ( additionally, in between a valley, where one slope could protect them from oncoming danger(war)
and another could be used to see what is coming or happening, for defence purposes)
2.2 Situation
• Situation is the location of a settlement in relation to the surrounding area.
• A settlement with good access to natural recourses and other settlements, will grow.
• On a larger scale, towns grow and prosper from a favourable situation.
• Favourable physical situations for favourable growth such as :
- The lowest bridging point ( growth of settlement where routes cross a river) widens out into its
estuary (wide tidal river mouth) .
- The convergence of several valleys
- A gap in a range of hills
These situations make settlements more accessible from the surrounding regions, which then encourages
their development as market centres and trade centres.
• However, with modern settlements the decisions about their location and situation is often made by
town planners who do usually do not consider factors , such as accessibility to water, they would
have in the past.
3. Differences between rural and urban settlements
• Settlements are distinguished by being classified as either rural or urban.
• For a given country, population density is lower in rural settlement than in urban settlements,
however this is not the best way to distinguish between settlements because population density
varies across the globe.
• Economic activity serves as a more reliable method of distinguishing between rural and urban
settlements.
• In rural settlements people are :
- Usually involved in primary economic activities (mining/ farming/ fishing/ forestry)
- Farms can be large commercial farms or small subsistence farms
- Regarded as uni-functional
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