6. Settlement Processes Flashcards
what change in human lifestyle was of great significance (2)
The change in human lifestyle from nomadic hunter/gatherers to sedentary cultivators
The domestication and cultivation of plants and animals led to a food surplus so that some persons could do other tasks and specialize
The earliest settlements were located where?
along rivers/springs and often near fertile alluvial/volcanic soils
Settlements are often dependent on
some type of economic activity to support their populations: from agricultural-based rural settlements to the urban service-dominated skyscrapers
Settlements vary in size and function over a
continuum from the single isolated dwelling the largest city.
They also form different spatial patterns
Settlement processes have a great impact on
the environment, changing and manipulating all aspects
Disposal of human waste products form a
large problem for many cities and pollute air, water and land
There are many differences in the way in which countries define urban and rural. In general, the criteria for distinguishing rural from urban are
population size and density and the availability of certain services
However the population thresholds differ.
In some African countries, the population threshold for an urban settlement is 100 persons. In others, it is 20,000.
In some countries in Europe, it varies between 2,000 and 2,500.
In Jamaica it is 2,000.
In Britain some cities are simply defined as towns with city status
what is changing the nature of rural areas and the relationship between land and people
improvements in transportation and communication
Rural settlements in both developed and developing countries have undergone considerable changes in recent decades for a number of reasons like (6)
rural–urban migration
urban–rural migration
the consequences of urban growth
technological change
rural planning policies
the balance of government funding between urban and rural areas
two major technological changes, known as the ‘Neolithic revolution’ that turned the migratory hunter-collector into a sedentary farmer were
the domestication of animals (sheep, goats and cattle) and
the cultivation of cereals (wheat, rice and maize).
Slow improvements in early farming gradually led to
food surpluses and enabled an increasing proportion of the community to specialise in non-farming tasks
The evolution in farming appears to have taken place independently, but at about the same time where?
in three river basins:
the Tigris-Euphrates (in Mesopotamia),
the Nile, and
the Indus
what were the similar natural advantages: of the 3 river basins; the Tigris-Euphrates (in Mesopotamia), the Nile, and the Indus
hills surrounding the basins provided pasture for domestic animals
flat floodplains next to large rivers
rich, fertile silt deposited by the rivers during times of flood
a relatively dry- but not too dry- climate which maintained soil fertility (i.e. limited leaching) and enabled mud from the rivers to be used to build houses (climatically, these areas were more moist than they are today)
a warm subtropical climate
a permanent water supply from the rivers for domestic use and, as farming developed, for irrigation
what happened to settlement by 1500BC?
larger towns and urban centres had developed with an increasingly wider range of functions.
Administrators were needed to organise the collection of crops and the distribution of food supplies;
traders exchanged surplus goods with other urban centres;
early engineers introduced irrigation systems;
a ruling elite appropriated taxes from the agricultural and trading population to support the military, the priesthood, and ‘non-productive’ members of society, such as artists, philosophers and astronomers.
Craftsmen were required to make farming equipment and household articles
As towns continued to grow, it became necessary to have a legal system and an army for defence
Settlement location factors (8)
water supply
building materials
arable land for crops grazing
land for animals
ease of communication
fuel supply
defence
avoidance of natural hazards (away from flooding, shelter from gales, etc.)
