Human Geo 12.4 Questions Flashcards
What are circular clustered rural settlements?
They have a central open space surrounded by structures. The Maasai pastoral nomads of sub-Saharan Africa build circular settlements known as kraal. Women have the principal responsibility for building them, and they have enclosures for livestock in the center, surrounded by a ring of houses. Von Thünen observed this circular pattern in Germany as well.
What are linear clustered rural settlements?
They’re clustered along a road, river, or dike to facilitate communications. The fields extend behind the buildings in long, narrow strips. Long-lot farms can be seen today along the St. Lawrence River in Québec (French).
What are clustered New England rural settlements?
Clustered Rural settlements were common in colonial New England, where colonists traveled in a group from England and wanted to live close together to reinforce cultural and religious values. Today, New England has remnants of this old pattern, and many towns still have a central common surrounded by the church, school, and various houses.
Where did settlements originate and what were early public services?
- Possibly in Mesopotamia (Fertile Crescent) and diffused to Egypt, China, and South Asia’s Indus Valley. Settlements may also have originated independently of these hearths.
- -Early settlements housed political leaders and defense forces to guard residents of the settlement & defend the surrounding hinterland from seizure by other groups.
What were early consumer services?
They may have been established to offer consumer services (esp. places to bury the dead). If they had an established resting place, they might install priests to say prayers at the site, which would encourage the building of structures. Many settlements (some with places of worship) existed by the start of recording history about 5,000 years ago.
What were early business services?
-Early urban settlements were where groups could store extra food/trade. People brought plants, animals, minerals, tools, clothing, and containers and exchanged them for items brought by others. To facilitate this trade, officials in the settlement set prices, kept records, and created currency.
When and where were settlements first established?
Settlements were first established in the eastern Mediterranean in 2500 BCE. They were trading centers for the islands and provided the gov’t, military protection, and other public services for their surrounding lands. They were organized into city-states, and were places to house families. They became manufacturing centers for tools, shelter, containers, fuel, and more. Men gathered the materials for objects, and women manufactured them.
How did the rise of the Roman Empire encourage urban settlement?
They were established as centers of administrative, military, and other public services (as well as retail and other consumer services). Trade was encouraged through transportation and utility services (roads/aqueducts), and the security provided by the Roman army. Rome was the world’s largest city, and was the first to reach 1/2 million inhabitants.
What happened after the fall of the Roman Empire?
When the empire fell, urban settlements declined, because the empire had rested on trading (which diminished when the empire fragmented under hundreds of rulers). Large settlements shrank, and for many years, Europe’s cultural heritage (books/art) was preserved in monasteries and isolated rural areas.
After the Roman Empire fell, most of the largest settlements were in China (between 600 and 1500 CE). How did urban life begin to revive in Europe?
Urban live revived in Europe in the 11th century as feudal lords established settlements, and gave residents rights to establish cities in exchange for their military service (both residents and lords benefited). Urban dwellers, set free from rural serfdom, expanded trade/markets (enhanced by use of roads and rivers). By the 14th, Europe was covered by a dense network of small market towns serving the needs of particular lords.
What did the largest European medieval settlements serve as?
Power centers for lords/church leaders (largest structures being churches). In medieval times, European settlements were surrounded by walls, and there was little space for construction, so shops/houses nestled into the sides of walls and buildings. Today, only the churches/palaces survive, and modern tourists can’t receive an accurate image of a densely built medieval town.
Describe the “large size” difference between rural and urban settlements:
In rural settlements, you know/are related to most other people, but in an urban settlement, you only know a small % of other residents, and you meet most of them in specific roles (your supervisor, lawyer, cashier, electrician, etc). Most of these relationships are contractual: you are paid wages according to a contract, and you pay others for goods/services. This means that different social relationships are found in urban than rural.
Describe the “high density” difference between rural and urban settlements:
-Urban areas have much higher densities of housing, population, and services. High density produces social consequences for urban residents, and specialization is the only way to support a large number of people: each resident plays a special role/task to allow the whole system to function smoothly. High density also encourages social groups to compete to occupy the same territory.
Describe the “social heterogeneity” difference between rural and urban settlements.
-In urban settlements, there’s a larger variety of people and each person has greater freedom to pursue culture/professions (urban residents are more accepting of diverse social behavior). Individuals can also find people with similar interest in urban areas, but may also feel lonely/isolated. In MDCs, social distinctions between rural and urban settlements are blurred, because 99% of citizens in MDCs hold urban jobs, and everyone owns vehicles/electronic devices & has access to urban services, jobs, & culture.
What percentage of people live in urban settlements for developed and developing countries?
55% of people live in an urban settlements. This % increased rapidly in the 20th century, and in 2008, the population of urban settlements exceeded that of rural settlements. A country’s development is reflected in their % of people in urban settlements (79% in MDCs, 50% in LDCs). However, that varies: 78% in Latin America, but 40% in sub-Saharan Africa and 35% in South Asia. The gap in urbanization between MDCs and LDCs is closing rapidly.
