3.1 Changes in rural settlements

Question 1

Define site

Answer 1

The site is the actual location on which settlements are built

Question 2

Define situation

Answer 2

The situation is the location of a settlement relative to other settlements and large physical features.

Question 3

Define function

Answer 3

The main reason for an urban areas existence e.g. port ,industrial town.

Question 4

Define rural area

Answer 4

Less densely populated parts of a country which are recognised by villages, hamlets or isolated houses

Question 5

Define urban area

Answer 5

Refers to a built up area/ town or city

Question 6

Principal characteristics of traditional rural society

Answer 6

• Close knit community with everybody knowing and interacting with everyone else
• Considerable homogeneity in social traits: language, beliefs, opinions and pattern of behaviour
• Class differences are more pronounced
• There is less mobility in urban society, people also do not move house so frequently

Question 7

Why are rural settlements experiencing changes?

Answer 7

Due to:

• Migration (rural-urban and urban-rural)
• Urban growth
• Technological change
• Rural planning policies
• Government funding

Question 8

The issue of rural services

Answer 8

Unmarried young adults migrate to regional centres for better socio-economic opportunities ⇒ Population decreases, ages and births fall below replacement level ⇒ Reduction in business services due to falling demand ⇒ Key social service provision cut ⇒ Loss of services induces out migration of young adults and immigration of retirees which results in ageing population. Cycle repeats

Question 9

The rural transport problem

Answer 9

• The increase in car ownership has adverse effect on public transport
• It has not disadvantaged rural car owners, but it has considerably increased the isolation of the poor, the elderly and the young
• Lack of public transport put intense pressure on low income households to own a car
• Recent increase in price of fuel exacerbated this problem

Question 10

The rural housing problem

Answer 10

• Lack of affordable housing in village communities has resulted in a large number of young people having to move to urban areas
• An increase in second homes ownership due to:
  
  • wealthy families choose their first home close or within the urban areas due to the close commute to workplace
  • have second home in countryside where they visit during weekends or holiday periods
  • increase in teleworking

Question 11

Issues in rural settlements in LEDCs

Answer 11

• Rural depopulation and ageing population
• The closure of services
• Insufficient labour
• Exploitation by big firms
• Political instability and civil strife
• Discrimination and segregation due to the clash between the movement of people with urban attitudes into rural society
• It is often the young males who move - the remaining family may be less physically able to carry out heavy tasks. With the absence of the young males, children may have to work on the farm, rather than going to school.
• Subsistence farming to cash crops => Less land is available to grow food to feed the local population and less water
• Fertiliser may enter the local water supply and new sporadic diseases

Question 12

Issues in rural settlements in MEDCs

Answer 12

• Rural population has changed in character (gentrification) – the countryside has been repopulated by middle class groups who took advantage of cheaper housing in the countryside who now exert a strong influence over the areas they have moved to in terms of the types of services provided.
• The economy is no longer dominated by agriculture and employment in agriculture reduced– This is mainly due to the increase in mechanization on farms.
• Farm diversification. This is where they create activities on their land to gain additional income e.g. tourism and recreation such as rent out land for camping or have a farm visitor centre.
• Higher house prices and lack of affordable housing- As richer middle classes have moved to rural areas, this has increased demand for housing and therefore the house prices have risen in some rural areas. This has meant some original families can no longer afford the housing.
• Formation of metropolitan/suburbanised villages (due to counterurbanisation)– As counterurbanisation has occurred with people moving out of cities to the countryside, there has been a growth of some villages around the city where people have moved to enjoy the rural areas but still be able to commute to work in the city. These larger villages are often calledsuburbanised or metropolitan villages
• Rural depopulation– howeber, being reversed with the process ofcounterurbanisation.
• Decline of rural services
• Reduction of public transport- The increase in car ownership in recent decades has meant that public transport such as buses have reduced as less people were using it. However , this means people without a car have become isolated