Settlement Unit
Topic Key Points Case Studies/Examples
1. Rural & Urban Be able to describe the difference! No specific case study.
Every settlement can lie on a rural-urban continuum:
This is why it is called settlement dynamics, because
they are constantly changing.
Can change in population, infrastructure and other
processes (e.g. urbanisation, suburbanisation).
The Settlement Hierarchy – be able to draw one!
As you move up the hierarchy, the settlements
increases in importance, have a higher threshold
population and therefore a wider range, greater number
and better quality services and infrastructure.
BUT – As you move up, there is less frequency (number
of each settlement).
Settlements that must be included – Capital City,
Conurbation, Large City (Megacity), City, Large
Town (& Spa Town), Town, Village, Hamlet.
Know that each settlement has a Function – e.g. port,
industrial town, coastal city, market town. This can change
through time.
Be able to recognise three types of settlement – Dispersed,
Nucleated & Linear (sometimes known as a dormitory
trend).
The Rank-Size Rule: The size of settlements is inversely
proportional to their rank.
Attempt to find a numerical relationship between the
population size within an area e.g. a country.
Check page 404-405 of the Monster book.
You could have a Primate Distribution (or Urban
Primacy) – Where the largest city dominates the
country or region (e.g. Doha in Qatar).
Binary Distribution – Two very large cities of almost
equal size within the same country (e.g. Madrid &
Barcelona in Spain).
2. The Cycle of This should form the basis of many answer in your exam, as it
Urbanisation can be linked with many aspects of settlement change.
Learn the diagram!
Urbanisation – Often in Immature LEDC settlements
that are in Stage 1 of the DTM. Large percentage of
employment in the Informal Sector and/or Primary
Industry. Much urban sprawl takes place here, along
with rural-urban migration.
Suburbanisation – Often in consolidating and maturing
settlements (stages 2 & 3). Large percentage moving
into manufacturing (secondary) employment with a rise
in tertiary employment too. CBD is becoming crowded
and so people migrate to the suburbs and commute into
the CBD for work.
Counterurbanisation – Often in maturing and
established settlements (stages 3 & 4). Large rise in the
tertiary employment with an emergence in quaternary
employment. Many people, businesses and services
relocating to the rural-urban fringe to avoid the
unwanted pressures of the CBD – congestion, pollution,
waste, degradation. Many urban areas at risk of decline
from relocation of services and industries.
Reurbanisation – Established settlements (Stages 4 &
5) often put investment back into the CBD with a view
to attract business, people and services. Many building
are gentrified (gentrification) and redeveloped into
modern uses. This can cause CBD areas to enter a cycle
of growth again.
Note – These can be more easily applied to large urban areas
and cities. Difficult for rural areas BUT it can show the affects
on the rural areas i.e. the points when rural areas gain
people, and the points that they enter a cycle of growth or
decline.
Make sure you know and can describe the causes and
consequences of urbanisation in MEDCs and LEDCs:
LEDC – Rio de Janerio (see later)
MEDC – Nottingham. Rapid deindustrialisation in the
1900s later led to decline and deterioration in the CBD.
This creates environmental, economic and social effects
in the CBD.
3. Rural The main threat to rural areas is that of urban growth, and 1. County Durham – UK
Settlements the rise in rural-urban migration:
LEDCs – Many push & pull factors which • Originally situated for lead
force/encourage a large flow of internal migrants to mining in the Pennine hills.
urban areas in search of a better QOL. • Population 442 – Low
MEDCs – Many established urban areas are undergoing threshold population.
redevelopment – This in turn can encourage more rural- • QOL for people who live
urban migration of the economically active. This can there is high – attractive
leave an ageing population in the rural place to live.
settlements, causing these areas to go into decline. • BUT – Decline in
agricultural employment is
MEDC rural areas are the main focus: leading to an increase in
In the UK, many rural areas used to depend on mining unemployment.
and agriculture to be sustainable. • Male stands at 17%
Many however (especially mining in the 1980s and • Limited support from state
1990s) have closed down, creating high & government.
unemployment rates and a decline in services. • High degree of remoteness
Further migration of economically active has caused makes QOL harder –
these areas to enter a cycle of decline/deprivation. increasing transport costs
Be able to draw a diagram showing the cycle, and be to larger facilities and
able to explain how rural areas can enter a cycle of services.
decline. • Out-migration of young
The key is that these areas have poor services (low skilled economically active
threshold population), poor infrastructure (roads etc.) – Increases dependency
and poor communication – they are not switched on! ratio
To enter a cycle of growth, investment is needed in • Cycle/spiral of decline –
some aspect in order to retain economically active and Loss of services &
encourage people to use the services there, thus community
creating more jobs and possibly tourism. • In 1980 – 160 children,
now under 40.
Changes to rural areas – How to enter cycle of growth: • Social exclusion – People
living in rural poverty
Many rural areas are becoming dormitory trends – i.e.
being situated along key transport routes so that people Use the Hart textbook to learn
can just live in them and commute to the urban areas how Durham have entered a
for other purposes. communications revolution in
Telecottaging/Telecommuting/Teleworking – order to ‘switch on’ the area,
Investment into communication can allow economically thus increasing the threshold
active to work from home, or even set up a business in population.
the rural areas, thus providing economic wealth.
Farm Diversification – Farmers can ensure income all 2. Nottingham Business Park
year round by diversifying their business to include Built on the rural-urban
tourism – e.g. outdoor activities, B&B, hotel, fringe of Nottingham,
restaurants, selling local produce, education and other adjacent to the M1
recreational activities. motorway.
Briefly think about the possible conflicts that this could Prime example of
create. relocation of good
businesses to Greenfield
Out of Town Developments – e.g. Business Parks sites, where they are
Although they take business away from the CBD they reaping the advantages of
can help place rural areas into a cycle of growth, largely developing on these sites.
by creating employment with good wages. This can
increase counterurbanisation, BUT may draw people 3. You could use Spain for
from remote rural areas to the periphery of an urban this, the fact that many
area, adding to urban sprawl. retired elderly moved to
enclaves in the rural areas,
therefore Spain had to
encourage migration using
the SAWs scheme. From
this you can assess the
achievements and failures
of this form of
management (migration).
4. Urban Know and be able to draw & describe the following land use
Settlements models:
Burgess (Concentric Ring)
Hoyt (Sector/Zone)
Ullmann-Harriss
Multiple Nuclei Model
For each, be able to critically evaluate the model i.e. why are
they good and what are their flaws?
The Bid-Rent Model
Ross page 278 or Monster page 425-6.
Explains the idea that the most accessible parts of cities
are the most profitable to business and therefore the
land value is higher.
The model shows the amount the different land users
are willing to pay.
If the theory was perfect, then every city would follow
Burgess’ model of land zones, therefore there are also
flaws to this too.
This theory is becoming less prominent in MEDCs
especially with the increasing ability to commute as a
result of suburbanisation and counterurbanisation.
The centre of the model is the PLVI – Peak Land
Value Intersection, where the land is the most valued.
Remember, urban areas also follow vertical zonation, aswell
as horizontal zonation:
Vertical zonation – e.g. retail areas on the ground floor,
with office space above.
Horizontal – Land transect, change in land use as you
move further away from the CBD.
Suburbanisation & Counterurbanisation have led to centrifugal
movements to places like the suburbs and rural-urban fringe,
onto Greenfield sites.
Know the difference between the Brownfield and
Greenfield, and know the advantages & disadvantages
of developing on both of these.
5. Managing This is made up of two key parts: Simple… Learn Rio and
Urban Areas London in lot’s of detail!
1. MEDC – London – The inner city of MEDC cities and
the provision of new infrastructure and development
with the objective of reurbanisation to combat
counterurbanisation.
2. LEDC – Rio de Janeiro – Slum development as a result
of mass rural-urban migration, urban sprawl and
urbanisation AND the strategies to manage this growth.
FOR BOTH:
Know the issues i.e. what processes are occurring
(urbanisation? Counter? Rural-urban migration?) and
relate it to the theories and cycles.
Be able to classify the issues into environmental,
economic, social possibly demographic.
Be able to suggest and explain how both cities could
enter a cycle of decline without any investment.
Clearly describe and explain (IN LOTS OF DETAIL)
strategies used to promote growth in both areas.
The main difference is that:
MEDCs e.g. London can use Top-Down developments
due to the availability of funding and flagship projects.
LEDCs e.g. Rio need to use Bottom-Up developments
such as self-help schemes, community development
projects etc. possibly aid?
This help must be Appropriate Technology too –
Sufficient accessibility which doesn’t exceed the level of
cost or education of that population.
Slums that successfully obtain help from bottom-up
projects can enter a cycle of growth and therefore
become sustainable ‘slums of hope.’
