Settlement
settlement
The process through which a group of people establishes homes in a particular place, as well as the way in which their homes are distributed.
Its easy to distinguish the difference between rural and urban settlement based on their size and activities.
settlements and economic activity
The economic activities carried out by the population affect a settlement.
Arable Farming Zones: in areas of extensive agriculture which include grapevines, olive, and cereal, is usually concentrated in large towns or villages. Areas of market gardening and irrigated agriculture generally have more dispersed settlements.
Livestock farming zones: the settlement is usually dispersed among family farms, in some places there are small , circular villages, protected by thorny hedges to defend herds from predators.
Fishing Villages: these settlements are located near ports. Nowadays these settlements are often very big and have diversified.
Mining towns: originally located next to mines, and a lot have been abandoned thanks to pollution and mine dangers.
20th century
satellite towns, also known as new towns emerged - Satellite towns: Smaller urban nucleus located close to a large city; it is often mainly residential & specific industrial or commercial activities are carried out in
what is an urban sprawl?
uncontrolled and unplanned spread of urban development into nearby area
what is the urban layout?
the urban layout of a town or city shows the spatial distribution of all the elements regarding it. It is also the product of that town or city's development over time
Rural and Urban settlements
In the past most cities were rural, but nowadays most of the World's population lives in cities.
Differences between Urban and Rural settlements depends on the country. In spain a settlement is considered a city if its over 10 000 inhabitants
RURAL SETTLEMENTS
rural settlements around the world have historically been an important part of culture and economic activity.
who received large immigrants from europe and china?
The U.S.
what is a shanty town?
neighbourhood containing small dwellings made of waste material or of very poor quality.
The Orthogonal grid layout
This type of layout has a grid of straights streets that cross one another at right angles and form square blocks. This layout is useful for transport and communication facilities.
the area around a settlement
situation: this refers to a settlement's location in relation to the surrounding are (district, region, country and continent). This has a great influence over the rest of the area in which they are located
rural houses around the world
rural houses are both used as homes and workplaces. Vary depending where they're situated.
- Forests and rainforests: made of wood and stone
- Tropical rainforest: stilt houses are built
- Savannah and steppes: nomadic livestock farming. Main dwellings made from animal skin.
- Dry climate zones: Mud huts and adobe huts (made from mud and straw). Common in Maghreb, African Savannah. Central and South asia, dry zones of America.
- Temperate zones: made of stone, wood, bricks or adobe have tilted or slate roofs. Common in Mediterranean & Atlantic countries.
- Cold zones: Adapted to extreme cold.
experienced a period of rapid Urban growth in the late 19th century- Caused by arrival of migrants from rural areas & Immigrants from spain and italy
Central and South America
the 21st century
nowadays the cities that are expanding tend to be because of the political functions, or where technological and trade developments are most important.
Cities in developed countries are either maintaining or increasing their activities and pop
The circular or radiocentric layout
this type of layout resembles a spider's web. It consists of a series of rings, with the streets as axes that begin at the centre of the rings. This layout facilitates a lot the town or citie's defence
the area around a settlement
site: this refers to a specific place where a settlement is located. In many cases a settlements site explains its original function.
Examples: Rome, Toledo, Cuenca and Lugo are located on high ground because their original function was defensive.
Paris, Vienna, and Cordoba are next to rivers because they were original crossing points.
London, Buenos Aires, Lisbon and Bilbao are at or close to river mouths because they communicated between the coast and Inland regions.
Others are situated on the the slopes of valleys in order to avoid occupying fertile agriculture lands
Rural settlement patterns
- Dispersed settlement: houses are dispersed across the area, either because of economic activities carried out or the land is hilly. Found in mountainous areas. or areas of intense agriculture.
- Concentrated settlements: houses are grouped together to make a village or town.
- linear settlement: houses are built along a road, river or railway line.
- Nucleated settlements: The layout is organized around a central point. Streets follow a radial or circular pattern.
- Interspersed settlement: Combination of the dispersed and concentrated models. Dispersed: small houses dispersed. Concentrated: allows better ground for schools, shops...
The largest cities in the world developed in:
barcelona, cordoba, toledo, avila, madrid
Barcelona: Port
Cordoba: Muslim city, a long time ago. Crossing point close to a river
Toledo: Defensive. High ground
Avila: Defensive.
Madrid:
The Irregular layout
This type of layout is typical of Medieval and Muslim cities. There is a dense grid of winding streets, with no open spaces or straight avenues. Mostly uses in places that are or where easy to defend, either because of they're closeness to a river or high ground
Settlements and the environment
Rural settlements are usually integrated with and take advantage of the surrounding environment. However, Urban settlements destroy and transform the surrounding environment.
Rural settlements are strongly linked to the surrounding environment which they take advantage of and transform according to their needs. They also use the available resources (Stone, Wood, Earth...)
Urban settlements they have larger populations than that of a rural settlement. In urban settlements most of the greenery is destroyed.
19 century
cities were expanded & new suburbs known in spain as ensanches were built. - Ensanches are suburbs with long straight streets.
In australia most of the population is concentrated in planned cities, such as
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide & Perth.